Tapping at kids school

[medic5794]

I plan on tapping some trees around my kid's school. His school is in a very large county park. I'm doing this as part of education for his class. Does anyone have any experience with this? How did it go? I'm a little concerned about people tampering with the bags. I don't care if they get destroyed, I plan on using pvc sap sack holders with bags. I'm more concerned about contaminents being placed in the sap sacks i.e chemicals or people peeing in them. Any advice? Am I just worrying too much about this?

Sorry if something similar has been posted somewhere else, I searched and couldn't find anything.

[bigschuss]

I plan on tapping some trees around my kid's school. His school is in a very large county park. I'm doing this as part of education for his class. Does anyone have any experience with this? How did it go? I'm a little concerned about people tampering with the bags. I don't care if they get destroyed, I plan on using pvc sap sack holders with bags. I'm more concerned about contaminents being placed in the sap sacks i.e chemicals or people peeing in them. Any advice? Am I just worrying too much about this?

Sorry if something similar has been posted somewhere else, I searched and couldn't find anything.

I have been teaching high school Bio and AP Bio for 22 years and we have a beautiful stand of mature sugar maple trees on our campus. Tapping the trees and boiling some sap would be a great experience and an authentic connection to the curriculum. However, I have not done it for the exact reasons you mentioned. You will never know if somebody threw something in the sap, peed in it, tampered with it in some way, etc. Unfortunately, dealing with behavior like this in our society today is a sad reality.

The only way I would try it would be to run lines to a central holding tank that had a tamper-proof lid of some kind. Then pump the sap out and go from there.

[30AcreWoods]

Wow, what an issue to have to contend with. I hate to give in to the idiots of our time...have you approached local authorities and inquired about how much trouble there is, or isn't, in the park? If you did a small number taps in a central location, are motion sensitive cameras a possibility? I agree that lines with a central, locked holding tank might be a good option. I can't believe that someone on here doesn't have experiences to share about dealing with hooligans in their sugarbush!

[ecolbeck]

I would think the benefits far outweigh the potential risks. I assume that you could smell pee in a bag if that unfortunate event occurs. I doubt that somebody is more likely to poison a sap bag than any other "soft target." My school has been tapping trees for years and I am unaware of any problems.

[bigschuss]

I would think the benefits far outweigh the potential risks. I assume that you could smell pee in a bag if that unfortunate event occurs. I doubt that somebody is more likely to poison a sap bag than any other "soft target." My school has been tapping trees for years and I am unaware of any problems.

Risking the potential health and/or safety of students in your charge for the benefits of the lesson is generally not something most educators and administrators would agree is a good idea. Again, having spent 22 years in the public school system I am, unfortunately, all too familiar with the depravity of behavior teenagers are capable of. Yeah, things might go well. All it takes is one sick kid to do something stupid and everything goes wrong. And with kids on social media 24/7, all it would take is somebody posting a threat of tampering or a fabrication of tampering to send students, parents, and administrators into orbit.

I'm sure it's done with success. It's just something that's too open to risk for me to try with my students unless I can somehow guarantee the integrity of the sap before I boil.

[For_the_kids]

I really like the idea, one possiblity is to just tap one tree on site so they can see how the sap flows. The sap collected from that tree would always get dumped out but you could bring sap from off site to show the boiling process. You could still gather wood from on site and they would still be involved with the whole process.

[bigschuss]

I really like the idea, one possiblity is to just tap one tree on site so they can see how the sap flows. The sap collected from that tree would always get dumped out but you could bring sap from off site to show the boiling process. You could still gather wood from on site and they would still be involved with the whole process.

Now that's a great idea!

[tgormley358]

I’ve thought about this too. I would think tapping trees along public roads would carry some of the same risk, but it Isn’t stopping me or many others. Urine would likely color the sap so you could toss any that’s not clear. I’d agree poison isn’t likely. How about - Have the school to announce that it will use the syrup made with these trees in its meals and cooking — pancakes, oatmeal, etc, assuming the school provides meals. It wouldn’t stop a committed peepetrator but might create a little peer pressure to not mess with it.

[jdircksen]

I’ve thought about this too. I would think tapping trees along public roads would carry some of the same risk, but it Isn’t stopping me or many others. Urine would likely color the sap so you could toss any that’s not clear. I’d agree poison isn’t likely. How about - Have the school to announce that it will use the syrup made with these trees in its meals and cooking — pancakes, oatmeal, etc, assuming the school provides meals. It wouldn’t stop a committed peepetrator but might create a little peer pressure to not mess with it.

This might just cause the kids to want to mess with the sap. They'll record it, but you won't find out until after you spend hours boiling and filtering it.

How about drop lines and buckets? You can get security tape to place over the lid and you'll see if the seal is broken. We do this on our aircraft doors https://aircraftsecurity.com/products/ted

[bigschuss]

I’ve thought about this too. I would think tapping trees along public roads would carry some of the same risk, but it Isn’t stopping me or many others. Urine would likely color the sap so you could toss any that’s not clear. I’d agree poison isn’t likely. How about - Have the school to announce that it will use the syrup made with these trees in its meals and cooking — pancakes, oatmeal, etc, assuming the school provides meals. It wouldn’t stop a committed peepetrator but might create a little peer pressure to not mess with it.

It's not stopping anybody from tapping along roadsides, but you have no risk. The risk of having sap tampered with is fairly low. And really, if something foreign was introduced it would probably have a negligible effect, if any, having been boiled. So, you would probably never know if your sap was contaminated along a roadside or on a school campus. But you have to understand kids and their behavior today to understand what could go wrong. Announcing to a student body that the sap collected on campus is going to be consumed so "please do not touch" would be like an open invitation for them to go out and mess with the buckets. They are all about shock value today...what can I do that will get me noticed? The more shocking, the more attention. The day after the boil and a pancake breakfast I could just see a Tik Tok video going up showing kids pissing in the buckets and it would set off a PR nightmare. Parents would be demanding that heads roll. That's the risk one takes when dealing with students today. It's the same reason why kids can't play dodgeball in gym class anymore, or climb ropes, or identify their blood type in science class with a finger prick. It's all too dangerous and there's too much risk for the sake of the lesson. I personally think it's all BS, but it's the way it is.

[For_the_kids]

Spot on bigschuss

[RunInCircles]

After a four-year hiatus from sugaring, I tapped 35 trees at my elementary school last year and had a very successful season, all things considered. The kids were very invested and I found the competition of getting the most sap was plenty of motivation to do the leg work of collecting.

The risks mentioned weighed on me, but I decided the benefits were worth it. Plus, I missed sugaring. I knew my kids had enough ownership to not mess with anything. The trees are somewhat secluded and it's unlikely anyone outside our school community would know we're doing it. I chose not to tap the trees that abut a busier street.

Finally, I set up our tank and boiling areas closer to the building and in sight of our school security cameras. Vandalism to these was higher on my list of realistic concerns.

[highlandcattle]

I spent 15 years in special ed. NEVER would I get envolved in anything like this nowadays. NEVER. Something will happen and you will get sued. Kids and parents look for opportunities. I used to bring in videos and the pails,etc. A sample bottle of syrup. We all had fun. No one got hurt. Worked out great. Things are very different now.