Ted Wells

I’m a 4th grade teacher at The Park School in Brookline, MA. I grew up on a small farm in Hopkinton, NH where I spent much of my time climbing trees, riding horses, playing in the barn, or skiing at Pats Peak. After Bowdoin College and five summers working with horses and children at E/L Ranch in Montana, I found my way to Bank Street College of Education and then to Park School where I’m in my fifteenth year. I’m concerned about the environment and committed to doing what I can to help. I also want help teachers understand our role in shaping the next generation in a way that addresses these problems. We need to redefine “citizenship” to include taking care of our community by protecting the natural world. This is a broader definition of “citizenship” than currently used in schools. We must empower children and allow them to be part of the answer. This is satisfying and comforting to them. I find inspiration from Al Gore, Bill McKibben, Joe Romm, and David Orr, and from relatives going back three generations working to help the environment. I constantly draw on the technological know-how, green wisdom, and good spelling of my wife, Anna Wells. Our dog Penny is my closest connection to nature! Most of all, I stay up late tinkering lesson plans and this website for my students, and for all children, as they will be inheriting this warming world from us. I want to do my small part to protect it for them. I’m especially driven to help the environment for Coley, my eight-year-old son, and Thea my three-year-old daughter.