ROGERS -- A community effort helped convert a dream into reality at Mathias Elementary School.
On Wednesday, which was Earth Day, the school celebrated its outdoor classroom, an amphitheater surrounded by trees, plants and a garden made for attracting butterflies and dragonflies.
Earth Day
Earth Day is celebrated April 22. Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. senator from Wisconsin, started it in 1970 in response to environmental concerns. Earth Day encouraged the development of several pieces of federal legislation, such as the Clean Air Act and the Water Quality Improvement Act, intended to improve and protect the environment.
Source: EarthDay.org
Students and staff members gathered at the amphitheater for a "vine-cutting" ceremony to officially open the outdoor classroom. Betsy Kinkade, principal, paid tribute to those businesses and individuals who played a part in the project.
"If it weren't for community support, this project wouldn't have been possible," Kinkade said.
The 542 students at Mathias now have a place to go for lessons outside. It also provides a tranquil place for kids simply to sit and read, said physical education teacher Jim Brown.
The project began two years ago with a competition. Gan Nunnally of Nunnally Chevrolet and Mark Cloud, then chairman of the Arkansas chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, developed the outdoor classroom project idea and asked Rogers schools to submit applications for assistance in building one.
Kinkade, upon hearing of the opportunity, reflected on her arrival as principal at the school a few years earlier. That's when she met Brown, who told her it was his dream to see an outdoor classroom on the north side of the building.
Staff members managed to pull together an application on a tight timeline. Mathias was chosen from about a dozen schools that applied, Cloud said.
Michelle McClaflin, architect at Hight-Jackson Associates, volunteered to lead the project. McClaflin held two design meetings to develop the design.
"They said, 'Give us an idea for an outdoor classroom,' and we shot for the moon," Brown said.
What exists is only part of a greater plan. Officials would like to add a vegetable garden, rain garden, fruit orchard and campfire ring. They'd also like a canopy to cover the amphitheater.
Numerous organizations, from the Green Building Council to the school's parent-teacher organization, pitched in with donations of money or time to create the outdoor classroom.
Nunnally, who attended Wednesday's ceremony, said he was surprised by what had developed from his idea.
"It went from a few benches and a chalkboard to what you see here," he said with a laugh.
Nunnally had been focused on sustainability because the Nunnally Chevrolet dealership in Bentonville, completed in 2011, was built to be certified as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design building.
Cloud estimated the amount of material and labor donated to the project to be worth close to $30,000.
"The idea is to get kids outside and understand the value of nature and tie it into their curriculum," Cloud said. "If they can feel it and touch it, they'll learn more than they could from just reading about it. And this gets them away from their iPads and video games."
Kinkade said Mathias teachers already have figured out ways to connect their lessons to the outdoor classroom.
A concrete pad connected to the amphitheater is reserved as a space for a supply shed. Kinkade said Brown has volunteered to build that shed using lumber from his own property.
During Wednesday's ceremony, students planted flowers in the butterfly garden while others -- Lizbeth Echeverria and Cinthya Rodriguez -- read quotes about butterflies. Lupita Sandoval read a poem.
NW News on 04/23/2015