On Tuesday, March 3, a group of students led by Environmental Science Teacher Katy Perry took a short hike to select a handful of maple trees on campus. They were joined by Director of Strategic Advancement Initiatives Chris Webb, who has personal experience making maple syrup and was able to offer guidance throughout the process. 

The students tapped three different trees to collect their sap. This process involves drilling a hole a specific distance into a tree and inserting a spile to drain the sap into an attached metal bucket that the students fastened to the tree beneath. 

It’s the first time in many years that this process has been carried out on campus. In the years of Verne Priest, founder of the Nimrod Club and longtime curator of Avon’s environment, it was a regular occurrence. “We have all of the equipment still in archives, but I don’t know when was the last time we did this. I’m hoping it can become a regular thing again,” Perry says. 

After a few days, enough sap was collected to begin the next part of the process. On Friday, students began boiling the sap which separates the water from the sugar. Once the water completely boils off, all that should be left is the sweet, amber syrup. One of the students who assisted with this part of the process was Jackson Lent ’26. He says his grandpa has a farm in upstate New York where he would often see trees stuffed with taps and lines running from tree to tree, but had never seen this part of the process before and certainly didn’t expect to see it at his high school. “I’ve never seen this step,” Lent says. “It’s pretty surprising to see it here at Avon as I’m going to class.” 

Unfortunately for Lent, this part of the process can take several hours. “I really wish I could just try it now,” he says. It takes time and also a lot of effort. Roughly 40 gallons of sap is needed to create just one gallon of maple syrup. 

So, for now, Perry knows she has to start small. “We’ll see how much we get, but I’m hoping to at least get a few bottles and we can present one of them to the Head of School. In the future I think it would be cool to have them as gifts for alumni or visitors to the school.”

Her future plans for this process also involve incorporating it into student education—another example of the R.E.A.L. Learning that takes place at Avon Old Farms School. In fact, she says it will be a component of her upcoming Intersession course. Intersession, the week-long program that takes students outside of the classroom for unique lessons on subjects not included in the standard curriculum, takes place the week students return from March break. Perry’s course this year is titled, “Haunts and Habits of the AOF Forest,” named after a phrase Riddle used in the school’s Deed of Trust.

In this Intersession course, students will explore the woods that surround their dormitories and classrooms to find out more about the ecosystems that exist within, and how they can maintain a symbiotic relationship with the land. Creating maple syrup from the trees is a perfect example of this, Perry explains. “Reciprocity is true sustainability. Being stewards of the forest is a big part of the history of this school.”

Instilling an awareness of true sustainability and how it can positively impact the school community is one of the goals Perry had with this sap extraction activity. “As an educator, one of the best things we can do is spark curiosity. I hope the boys come away with a closer connection to the land,” she says, adding that she’s certainly not the first person at the school to have this goal. “A big part of what Theodate wanted from this school was for boys to connect with the environment.” 

Perry isn’t only reflecting on what this campus meant to students 100 years ago. She’s also considering the next century. “What will conservation look like 100 years from now? The same teachers won’t be here then, but the forest that surrounds us will if we do our part to maintain it.”

With how much use the waffle makers in the Refectory get, it wouldn’t hurt to keep as many maple trees around as possible to ensure the student experience at Avon stays just as sweet.

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