The St. Michael Catholic School community in Ridgetown is excited to announce its new outdoor classroom is open and that students and teachers are already taking advantage of learning in the outdoors!
“We are excited to have this new resource available for our students to enjoy,” says Kelly Van Boxtel, Principal of St. Michael Catholic School. “Learning outdoors leads to an increased curiosity and interest in science and nature and a better understanding of the environment and appreciation of God’s creation, along with the added benefit of improved emotional and physical wellness that comes with physical activity.”
The outdoor classroom is being used by students and staff in a variety of ways:
- Implementing and practicing social emotional learning strategies;
- Buddy work, where older and younger class pair up to read together, or complete art masterpieces, math tasks, writing tasks science experiments, etc;
- Christian meditation, reflection and classroom prayer services;
- Completing gratitude journals;
- Games
- Brain breaks and daily physical activity;
- Springtime classes will involve growing plants and vegetables in the planter boxes.
The outdoor classroom is designed with drainage and artificial turf, so that water drains quickly following rainstorms, making it available to students as soon as they are able to go outside. The sun sails offer cool shade on bright sunny days. It is the latest outdoor classroom project for St. Clair Catholic, which is expanding the resource to school communities across the district.
“Creativity is endless,” says Mrs. Van Boxtel. “The outdoor classroom will allow us to expand educational opportunities for our students and add variety to our learning, which goes beyond the traditional classroom setting.”
