The Fleetwood Area School District’s Nature Center Restoration project is not just focused on creating a beautiful outdoor space on school grounds. This student-led restoration of an outdoor learning environment will provide access to environmental education opportunities, connecting students to nature and their surrounding community.
The outdoor learning environment will serve as a classroom complete with picnic style tables, providing students with hands-on experiences to spark a lifelong interest in environmental stewardship. The project leaders plan to create signage to identify key educational aspects of the Nature Center including tree and animal species identification and watershed information. They aim to help native plants and birds reclaim portions of their habitat by building floating island structures and birdhouses.
During a recent visit, we were fortunate enough to witness not only a baby blue heron basking in the sun, but also the pride and excitement from the students who have worked so hard to get things started at the Nature Center. After extensively researching native plants, students selected species such as spatterdock, duck potato, and swamp milkweed to add to the land and water. It was truly inspiring to see the students channel their creativity and innovation into a project that will have such a positive impact on the community.
The goal of the project is to help students gain skills in leadership, teamwork, communication, problem solving, and project management. What makes this project particularly special is its student-led approach. The Fleetwood Area School District is committed to empowering these students in grades 5-12 by allowing them to lead the efforts.
“Whether it is a fifth-grade teacher demonstrating the water cycle for his/her class, or the AP Biology students visiting the pond to assess habitat health by chemically testing the quality of the pond water, it will be an outdoor classroom that will be used in a wide variety of ways,” Dr. Natalie Lytle, Director of Curriculum and Assessment at Fleetwood Area School District said about the impact the classroom will have.
This hands-on experience will also instill a sense of responsibility and ownership among students. They will witness firsthand the impact of their efforts, making the lessons learned in the classroom come alive in a real-world context.
Funding for this project came from the Teacher Mini-Grant Fund of Berks County Community Foundation, which provides grants up to $500 for Berks County K-12 school employees to support innovative classroom projects. Applications are now being accepted until December 1 for the 2024-2025 school year. For more information about the fund, please click here.
