Campus Connection

Education students get taste of teaching through Summit Elementary maple syrup project

At UW-La Crosse, future educators are stepping outside the classroom for a hands-on partnership that brings science, sustainability and a touch of sweetness to local elementary students. 

What started as an idea between two teachers at Summit Environmental Elementary School in La Crosse has come to life in the form of the Summit Sugar Shack Project. The project allows elementary students to gain hands-on experience by producing maple syrup on campus through a blend of hands-on outdoor education, cross-curricular learning and community collaboration.

“Nickolas O’Keefe and I have been working together for four years now, and we both share a passion for the outdoors and getting kids outside,” says Reid Hansen, a 2022 UWL alumnus and one of the visionaries behind the project. 

Hansen often shared stories with O'Keefe of his family making maple syrup in his hometown of Durand, 80 miles northwest of La Crosse. One day, while on a canoe adventure on Summit’s frog pond, the pair saw they were surrounded by maple trees.

“Nick said, ‘That’s it — we’re tapping trees and making maple syrup at Summit. Done deal!’” Hansen recalls. 

With the goal of strengthening connections between outdoor education and core curricular areas, as well as building an appreciation for natural resources and fostering lifelong habits of environmental stewardship, O'Keefe connected with Marcie Wycoff-Horn, the Dean of the School of Education (SOE) at UWL.

Thanks to the generous financial gifts from UWL’s SOE via the Prairie Springs Endowment Fund and the La Crosse Public Education Foundation, as well as several other contributors, the idea became a reality. 

This winter, Summit students were finally able to tap the dozens of maple trees on the school’s campus, collect sap over several weeks, and boil it down into syrup inside the completed Sugar Shack building. It's a project they hope to continue annually.

At Summit, the presence of college students added another layer of excitement to the experience. 

“Anytime we can partner with future educators, it’s great for all parties involved,” O’Keefe says. “Our students look up to the college students. They’re the ‘cool college kids,’ so Summit students really engage with them.”

Charlotte Roberts, Assistant Professor in Educational Studies, and her team of approximately 70 Early Childhood Education and Elementary Middle Education preservice teachers, came on board in the fall of 2025 to develop and facilitate lessons for all 350 Summit students.  

With the support from Summit Principal Oscar Uribe and collaboration with Mckenna Kruse, Summit’s Academic Success Coach, Roberts now brings pre-service teachers to Summit, where they teach the lessons they’ve designed. The lessons are focused on the history and process of maple syrup production in Wisconsin, while also honoring syrup’s Native American origins. 

This is an ongoing collaboration where each semester, a new group of students will be challenged to create and deliver developmentally appropriate, standards-based lessons, complete with hands-on activities, assessment and reflection.  

From tapping trees to teaching lessons, the Summit Sugar Shack Project shows what is possible when education extends beyond the classroom — creating meaningful experiences for both future teachers and the students they serve.