ROGERS — Plans are developing to create an outdoor classroom at Mathias Elementary School before the end of summer.
During a plan development session last week, educators and community members threw out ideas. Could an amphitheater be built into a slope north of the building with a curved and tiered design? Had designers looked at using solar fabric in a sail design to cover the area? Will administrators consider creating a wetland in the boggy area facing 24th Street?
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Teachers asked for locked storage and said they plan gardens between the future classroom and the street.
“Our goal is to make it more than a science center, but a learning center. Our goal is to make it the kind of space that anybody could go out and get outside,” Principal Betsy Kinkade told the group.
Students can use the space for experiments or as inspiration for a writing exercise, Kinkade said.
The plan for outside spaces at the school will be developed by members of the Arkansas chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, said Mark Cloud, chapter chairman.
Mathias was selected as the pilot school for an outdoor classroom project organized by the council in partnership with Nunnally Chevrolet, because it had a well-thought out plan for what students could learn through an outdoor classroom, Cloud said.
The grant application describes Common Core units that mesh with outdoors. In some grades, units focus on Native American culture and their connection to the land. First grade has a weather unit. Kindergarten has a unit where students learn about plants, bugs and frogs.
An outdoor classroom will let students see frogs outside, instead of tadpoles in a glass jar in the classroom, said Kara Davis, kindergarten teacher. Having a set space outside makes it easier to work with the class, she said.
“I would have enjoyed it when I was in school,” said Gan Nunnally, executive manager of Nunnally Chevrolet.
The idea for the project was born in a brainstorming session between Cloud and Nunnally, who said he wants to spread the word about sustainability based on his own experience. The dealership moved into to a new, LEED certified location, in July 2011, Nunnally said.
“The thing we’ve found about sustainability is how much money it’s saved us,” he said.
The new building is twice the size of the old, but utility bills are the same. Some construction concepts were simple such as the white roof that reflects heat on the new building similar to a white T-shirt on a summer day.
“You got a white T-shirt or a black T-shirt you can sure tell a difference, he said.
Sustainable construction, Cloud said, means the structure will have minimal maintenance and be built to last, but it also will not damage the environment. Those are the elements he hopes to bring to Mathias. U.S. Green Building Council members are architects and engineers, general contractors and some, like Cloud, are sustainability consultants. Volunteers with the group will create a plan for the area and help the school build the classroom.
“We probably won’t build everything we’re going to design,” Cloud said, “When we walk away they’ll have some kind of outdoor classroom.”
The first year’s seed money is $4,000. Staff members at the school are researching grants they hope will supplement the startup money and Cloud plans to tap council members to help in construction.
Nunnally said he hopes there will be more community partners for the school project.
Teachers said they are just excited that their students will get more time outside.
“Kids nowadays are inside all the time,” said Jim Brown, physical education teacher. “They’re not getting the chance to explore nature.”