Our Outdoor Classroom ProjectHow Alexander Central School Made it Happen

The IdeaIf you’ve ever climbed trees, rolled down hills, scrambled up rocks, made mud pies, dammed up water, hid in grass, played house in bushes, built snow forts, dug in sand, played in dirt, planted seeds, jumped in leaves, tracked animals, or had fun outside in other, similar ways, you’ve experienced natural play.

I wanted to bring the experience of natural play to Alexander students, a place in the great outdoors where children could come discover, explore, and use their imaginations.

I thought our existing nature area would be a great place to do this.

The Thomas E. Rider Nature Study Area was originally developed by Thomas Rider, a science teacher at Alexander for nearly 30 years. He noticed that his students never seemed to lose interest in the outdoors, so he developed the four acre area as a resource for students. The nature area was dedicated in his name upon his retirement in 1986.

In the beginning

Ahead of his time . . .Research shows:1. Nature enhances academic achievement. Students learn more when they participate in authentic, inquiry based

lessons in the natural setting. 2. Nature-based activities improve student behavior. Students who are engaged in authentic learning misbehave less than

others. Also, recess in the outdoors gets the wiggles out of their systems!3. Students are motivated to learn when content is connected to nature. When learning takes place in the environment, students want to find out

more, read and research, and truly understand material.4. Outdoor learning promotes communication. Students who participate in outdoor project-based activities or issue based

activities learn to communicate with their peers and community volunteers. 5. Nature helps students focus, including ADHD students. Students are more engaged in learning because nature is real and relevant

for them. 6. Students are healthier and happier when they spend time outside. Students get more exercise when they are outside, whether recess, P.E., or

even for student learning.

We needed funding . . .August 2011-Alexander’s idea to create a natural playground was randomly chosen for the Pepsi “Refresh Your World” grant competition. We began collecting Pepsi bottle caps to use for Power Voting.September 2011-Voting for our idea began on the Pepsi Refresh Your World website. People from all over the country voted daily. Our idea remained in second place for most of the month.October 2011-We won a grant of $50,000.00 by finishing in fourth place in the voting.

Our Work BeganA committee of school staff and community members was formed to plan for the natural playground. After doing some research, we decided that what we really wanted to do with our money was create an outdoor classroom. We hired Nature Explore to work with us to design the space.

Nature Explore is a collaborative program of the Arbor Day Foundation and Dimensions Educational Research Foundation. The mission of this comprehensive, research-based initiative is to help children and families develop a profound engagement with the natural world, where nature is an integral, joyful part of children's daily learning.

Nature Explore offers on-site outdoor classroom design services with a specially trained landscape architect-educator team. Our design team met with us for two days in November 2011. The result was our own concept plan.

With our concept plan in hand we began laying out stations. Community members adopted stations and construction began.

Community involvementHelp with our project came from many sources in and around our community.

Businesses donated materials and services:Pepsi Corporation Home Depot Foundation Lowe’s FoundationAlexander Equipment A-1 Supply Co., LLC Attica HardwareAttica Packaging Co. Bernard Schmieder PE,LS Bonsal AmericanConcreations, LLC Conservation Connects Frey Sand and GravelIroquois Job Corps Johnson’s Nursery Merle ExcavatingPalmiter’s Nursery Pudgie’s Nursery United Materials

Volunteers donated time and expertise.

We secured grants from:

Additional funding came from individuals and groups.

Ribbon CuttingThe outdoor classroom officially opened on October 12, 2012 with a ribbon cutting ceremony. State Senator Michael Ranzenhofer spoke about the importance of outdoor, unstructured play, at a time when electronic devices compete increasingly for children’s attention.It was a beautiful fall day. Children and their families enjoyed a variety of activities in the classroom’s 10 educational stations.

A work in progress . . .Our work in the outdoor classroom is on going. Committees have been formed to work on curriculum and to plan community events. We continue to need volunteers and to seek funding. There are plans to add new stations and maintenance of the area is an ongoing concern.

The Original Idea Remains:provide a place in the great outdoors where children can come discover, explore, and use their imaginations

Community Picnic May 2013

Teaching and Learning

Year Around

Outdoor Classroom

and we wish you many more!