Opportunities Outdoors

What I found when students go outside…

During the first activities, students were hesitant on where to go outside of the classroom. Students seemed like they did not have confidence in their sense of direction in the hallway, much less around the entire campus. Many students go through their years of high school sticking to their schedule, going only to the places that are within that schedule. This school is large, over 2,500 students, therefore the students are mainly concerned with locating where they need to be while navigating the crowded halls. They do not get much time to explore inside the school walls much less outside of them. Throughout this research students walked and explored the entire campus and, by the end, gained confidence in their sense of direction in and outside of the school. Students now know the location of the outdoor classroom with tables and a cleared pathway to explore and native plants and insects that inhabit it.