Maple Sugaring 3.0

By Jeff Philbrick, Headmaster

JRHS is a program of knowledge-rich curriculum, coupled with our unique and signature Project Based Learning. With the introduction of “Maple Sugaring 3.0” the students of the future are going to take the maple project to a whole new level, the marriage of hard work with modern science – the Jesse “Both And!”

Maple Sugaring is one of the very earliest projects at JRHS: 

1. It all began in the early 1990’s when entrepreneurially minded student Nathan Reynolds took a boyhood backyard pan and proposed a new project for JRHS. Within a few years, JRHS boasted a small sugar house, and some very nice Canadian equipment from the Waterloo company. Students in those earliest days set the foundation for great things ahead. 

2. With a very generous grant from the Cogswell Benevolent Trust, we upgraded our original 2x6 evaporator to a brand-new American made Leader, considerably larger. Production increased significantly to our current annual amount of approximately 70 gallons of God’s Secret Delight. Sugaring 2.0 also necessitated some building and vehicle upgrades to facilitate the development. 

3. This year marks Sugaring 3.0, again with some very new equipment. Although smaller in size, our new equipment is built for speed and efficiency. We are indebted to Mr. Kitt Plummer and Mr. Dan Burgher for finding and securing for us a Natural Resource Conservation grant – nearing $40,000 in value! Some highlights:

4. A 2x6 Smoky Lake Corsair evaporator with forced draft, automatic draw off, stack temperature gauge, which will require 50% less wood per year; 

5. A sap preheater and steam away hood to match the evaporator, drawing off an estimated 5% of the water before the sap even hits the pan; 

6. A Mempro-tech 100 Reverse Osmosis Machine that will remove as much as half of the water naturally found in sap before it hits the preheater; 

7. All new storage tanks, pumps, cleaning sinks, counters to work from; 

8. Hand pump filter press utilizing diatomaceous earth to filter out impurities in the finished product – “God’s Secret Delight”

Project Based Learning, which we branded in 1992, is all about fostering skills, habits and quality experiences that form the mind and heart. PBL is the Work and Life Resume, as each project carries worthy outcomes that can be re-invested into the next step in life. 

Maple Sugaring has been a mainstay in the PBL curriculum since the earliest days. Students have learned hard work, set in a NH classic experience, processing maple sap into “God’s Secret Delight”.