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students visit cooper-ellis sugarhouse
The Grammar School 5th and 6th graders took a tour of the Cooper-Ellis family sugarhouse in Westminster West in late March. 6th grader Jamie Cooper-Ellis explained the complex, high-tech system of gathering, filtering, and putting the sap through reverse osmosis machines before it is boiled down to syrup. Fraser and Felicity, Jamie’s parents, answered students’ questions and described the science and economy of maple sugaring. After talking a walk into the sugarbush to see how a vacuum pump worked, students were treated to fresh, hot syrup and sugar on snow.
When they got off the bus at the sugarhouse, students’ first impression was of “the sweet smell of maple sugar in the air.” They noted that it was interesting to observe the many steps involved in making syrup, and tasting the sap and syrup at different stages of the process was fun. They all agreed, however, that the highlight of the afternoon was “the sweet, warm, gooey maple sugar on snow – the best I have ever had!”