PULASKI, NY – Endeavoring to produce the finest maple syrup, the students and faculty of Pulaski Academy’s Sapper’s Society watch the weather with great anticipation as the winter fades, alert for the onset of the tapping season, when cold nights and above freezing days start the sap flowing.
This sugary North Country tradition provides a group of enterprising young people with an opportunity to create a much sought after product and employ a successful business model while gaining real world experience.
Founded in 2010, the club is an offshoot of the Pulaski Academy Science Club. Assisted by technology teacher Thomas Pullen and science teacher Kristin Sheehan-Vautrin, science teacher Carl Nylen leads the group of students in their quest to produce the amber gold.
“The students get to see the transformation of a raw material into a finished product,’” Nylen said as the steam rose from the evaporator. “They are able to take something that is worth almost nothing (Sap) and transform it into a highly valuable item.”
The business aspect of the organization is operated as a co-op.
“The students keep track of the amount of sap that they bring in, and then they are able to sell one half to three quarters of the syrup produced,” Nylen said.
The amount of sugar in the sap varies from year to year.
“We typically see it taking about 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup,” Nylen said.
Maple syrup enjoys a long history in New York, reaching back to the earliest Native Americans, who taught European settlers the fine art of boiling the sap of the Sugar Maple tree (Acer Saccharum) hundreds of years ago.
One legend tells of indigenous people observing red squirrels biting the tips of maple buds to access a sweet treat, thus giving away the secret of the tree’s sugary sap.
“The skills learned in the process are valuable,” Pullen said. “The kids may use these skills later in life to start an enterprise, and both the business skills and the actual syrup making skills are useful.”
The search for sap required the students to scour their surroundings for tappable trees. Many local property owners have been more than willing to allow the enterprising young people to collect from trees that would otherwise sit idly by and make no contribution to the early spring activity.
“Getting out into the woods and collaborating has allowed everyone to breathe a little easier during this difficult year,” Pullen said.
This year’s season will probably be a little shorter than most, owing to the recent above average temperatures, which cause the trees to channel their energy into making buds and leaves.
“This has been a great way to connect with students in a different way than we do in the classroom,” Nylen said as another gallon of clear liquid flowed into the evaporator. “With the COVID-19 pandemic, many outside of the school day programs have been canceled, but we have been able to continue with this operation, which takes place outdoors with plenty of opportunity for social distancing.”
Some of the participating students are not usually seen in the classrooms of the club’s advisors.
“We even have a student from our Academic Center bringing in sap, and I would not be able to connect with him in this building,” Nylen said.
The annual process of collecting sap and making syrup leaves a sweet memory in the minds of everyone that participates in the celebration of spring.
“It’s a lot of fun to do,” Nylen said. “We look forward to this all winter.”
