Litchfield’s Forman School featured on BBC show

LITCHFIELD — The Rainforest Project at the Forman School is being featured on an episode of “Animal Impossible,” a show presented by British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and aired on the Discovery Channel in the United States. The show explores an array of strange and remarkable truths about the animal kingdom while chronicling the bold ventures made by hosts Tim Warwood and Adam Gendle into nature.

“The show found us,” said Wendy Welshans, Rainforest Project director, in a press release. BBC was intrigued with the students’ research after learning about it on the Rainforest Project’s website.

The Rainforest Project is a nonprofit research program involving students from Northwest Connecticut high schools. It has been taking Forman students to the SelvaTica and Rara Avis Reserves in the Sarapiqui region of Costa Rica for 28 years to conduct hands-on research.

Forman is a private, college preparatory school teaching high school for students and postgraduates with diagnosed learning differences, such as dyslexia and ADHD using a research-driven approach. Dr. Samuel T. Orton, a pioneer in reading methodologies, and Dr. Albert Einstein were on the school’s academic board of advisors. Forman and Einstein became acquainted at Princeton and faced similar reading challenges, leading to their collaborative work for the school.

Students worked to patent a silk extraction method from golden orb weaver spiders and a technique for farming this species among other spiders by identifying characteristics of places successfully colonized.

The device used to extract silk was coined “the silkinator,” according to Welshans. It allows someone to take 150 feet of silk from a spider in one minute and then return it to its web.

Natalie Canterbury, a 2014 Forman graduate, and Jason Epstein, a 2018 Forman graduate, played integral roles in developing the research eventually leading to the silkinator. “We went into it thinking ‘what can this silk do?’” said Canterbury.

Epstein analyzed the physical properties of the silk and Canterbury tested the silk with different fibers and substances to distinguish which combinations were strongest and what it could be used for medically and commercially.

The silk would allow for sutures or even products like the bulletproof vest to be sustainably made with a natural composition, according to Canterbury.

“Ounce for ounce, this silk is stronger than steel,” said Welshans. “It will be fun to share what we’ve learned on the show. The silk of the golden orb weaver is remark

Forman School students working in Costa Rica with the Rainforest Project.

able and it has many potential uses. Among the things it can be used for are bulletproof vests, cable, and sutures for use on humans.”

Canterbury traveled with the group to Costa Rica twice after graduating in 2016 and again in 2019 when the BBC production crew went down to film. She was prompted to join the team after the death of a friend, a fellow Forman graduate who

participated in the project. She desired to “keep his legacy alive.”

“It was really unfortunate, the circumstances under which we decided, but it was a really beautiful thing and very heartwarming,” said Canterbury.

Canterbury noted that working with BBC enhanced the trip and made it “one of the best experiences,” she’s ever had.

“We really had a good

time just sharing our cultures with each other,” said Canterbury. “They’re these beautiful, elegant creatures and everything has a purpose. Every living thing produces to the world, everything contributes in its own way. So working with [the BBC production crew] really helped us to hone in on what we all believe in and it was just a really beautiful thing.”

Canterbury hopes to continue working with Welshans on the project for as long as she possibly can.

Welshans plans on continuing the Rainforest Project class despite not being able to take students to Costa Rica this year because of the pandemic. “Every year the mission gets greater; every year I feel like it’s bigger — I feel like we’re making more of a difference,” said Welshans.