An inner courtyard at Boonville High School in Indiana, USA wasn’t being used for much of anything, which made it the perfect place for an outdoor learning area for the entire school! This was the idea Ms. Rebecca Schnurr, a teacher at Boonville High School, presented to her 83 students who immediately dove into the project with enthusiasm.
Outdoor learning spaces have a number of benefits. Research has shown that students exposed to nature experience less stress and perform at higher levels academically and transforming sterile lawns into productive habitats is beneficial for local biodiversity too. The students at Boonville High School worked to rebuild the old pond in the school courtyard, remove non-native plants and introduce new native plants, especially pollinator species.
The result is a beautiful ‘Schoolyard Habitat’ that is useful as a stress reducer and creative inspiration for all students and faculty in the building. It also serves as an educational space where, for example, science classes can now go to conduct authentic field studies, such as soil and water testing, that would normally have been down in the classroom lab. While rebuilding the pond was a challenge, it’s become a favorite feature, enjoyed and admired by the school community with the added benefit of providing a water source for native animal species.
Through this Alcoa W5 project, students learned about constructing and maintaining the pond, which included lessons on rock identification, water flow, soil studies, aquatic plant life and the simple pleasure and satisfaction of doing physical labour that resulted in a beautiful and completed project. As Ms. Schnurr shared,
“This project has provided joy and stress relief for my students. It is hard to put into words the enthusiasm and happiness that most of my students displayed when they knew we would be working outside on this project. It was an uplifting experience for me to watch them become absorbed in the project through creativity and physical activity. It was learning at its best.”
Another teacher felt that the outdoor courtyard has become a “place where students can enjoy some green space and fresh air. I believe it gives them a way to relax from the orderly rows of indoor classrooms; this helps them to be more insightful and creative. I tend to get better class discussion from students when we are out there. Students just seem happier outside!”
The Alcoa W5 project of Boonville High School supports the following SDGs:
