New outdoor classroom opens in Luzerne County
DALLAS, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A school in our area is adding more books and fresh air to its curriculum all part of a project years in the making.
Planting fresh flowers and watering the garden bed, are not average classroom studies but now it’s day-to-day work for students at Dallas Intermediate in Luzerne County.
The outdoor classroom project was thought of five years ago by teacher Kristy Taylor, teaming up with Deb Pike, the pair brought it to life.
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“The idea was to have this place where they could come, where they could learn, where we could be outside and make that connection with nature. It’s important for us to realize that you know our resources are finite, we need to take care of what we have,” says Taylor.
The student’s outdoor studies bring the awareness of how important it is to care for our environment.
Some of the students authored their own books, like ‘Elliot the Eastern Box Turtle’ and ‘Turtle Time.’
Expanding their research past the classroom, the group won the grand prize for the Unless Project, an environmental education initiative, sponsored by the Philadelphia Zoo.
“The plight of animals around the world, how their habitats are being affected, why they’re threatened and endangered, and a great learning opportunity for students,” says Pike.
That’s why the group calls themselves the ‘Turtle Titans’, as students like Ainsley Campbell researched the eastern box turtle.
“That’s really our hope for the whole project is that the turtles don’t get harmed and that everyone keeps them safe and that we just keep having a good ecosystem for every animal.”
Although the outdoor classroom is still not officially complete. The group says they couldn’t have done it without the community’s help.
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