Fisk teachers hope to expand into outside classroom

FISK — The staff at Fisk elementary and middle schools are making gradual progress on an outdoor classroom, but still need help with it.

At the end of last fall, the school received pieces of a tree that teacher Landon Ham spearheaded and students helped sand smooth and painted with a sealant.

These now are set up in a circle between buildings at Fisk, and students can use them as seats while doing classwork outside.

One part of the outdoor classroom that is in operation is a circle of sanded and preserved tree stumps where students can sit during an outside class or while reading.DAR/Michael Shine

Principal Leean Mann has more work she wants to see done with the area to develop a space teachers can use for

class outside.

“Kids need to be outside,” she said. “Plus, they learn better. Is it more fun to read inside or is it more fun to read outside sitting on a swing?”

The next step on the project includes rocks donated by board member Bruce Goodrich. Some can be used for seats and the others will be used to landscape the area.DAR/Michael Shine

Her hope with the new classroom is to get students outside more often.

As it is, the area between buildings at Fisk includes a covered walkway and several patches of grass. It is fenced in from the parking lot and surrounding areas.

The ultimate vision, she said, includes a pavilion to cover the tree stump circle, a butterfly garden, planting beds for each grade level, benches and a picnic table.

Art teacher Jeanne Stevenson is working on a multi-colored map of the world on one building wall. Mann said the plan is to mark with circles where Fisk, Butler County and Missouri are located to help students with geography.

Mann said she’d like to have a picnic table or benches in the area where students can eat lunch as a reward for good behavior or sit outside during reading time.

The garden and planting beds can teach students about agriculture and nature, Mann said.She’s seen teacher support the effort, she said. Teachers have come out on their free time to work on cleaning up the area, Mann continued.“We, mostly the teachers, have done a lot of the elbow work,” she said.

They’ve also helped write grant requests and try to find other funding options for the project, she said.

Board member Bruce Goodrich recently donated rocks for the project. Some can be used as seating for students, and the others will be used for landscaping, Mann said.

A lack of funding is the main hangup on creating the area, she said.

So far, grant requests haven’t been successful, she said.

The district is working on recovering and reallocating funding after several years ending in the red.

While still looking for grants, Mann said, the school also will accept donations or sponsorships for the project.