For years now, Jennifer Holman, science teacher, and others in the science department have been talking about adding an outdoor classroom.
It wasn’t until Holman took a class about restoring and preserving ecosystems that she took charge and went out to the wooded area behind the preschool playground with a hand saw and a dream to begin this project.
“The goal is to build this trail, let kids get out there, and the possibilities are endless from there,” Holman said.
As of March 10, Holman has made strides in ridding the overgrown trail of invasive honeysuckle. Holman hopes to include students looking for volunteer hours after she’s gotten further in the project.
“After I get done using my saw and pesticides and it’s less dangerous, I’m hoping to have a trash bash,” Holman said.
Holman said she hopes all students benefit from the trail.
“They can use it for writing inspiration, sketching, species monitoring for example, but basically everyone gets to use it,” Holman said
Holman said there are many studies and books that highlight the importance of and benefits that come from spending time outside.
“A mindfulness walk would be really really helpful for emotional balance and well-being,” Holman said. “I figure our counseling department could use that with some of our kiddos that are struggling, and get them to a better place so they can work through any issues they’re dealing with.”
Brooklyn Couch, freshman, has been out on the trail with her science class.
“Since I have ADHD, and I know a lot of kids do, it’s very hard to just sit in one place and hear someone talk for a long time,” Couch said.
Kevin Koch, geoscience and AP Environmental Science teacher, collaborated with Holman.
With the topics he teaches, Koch said the trail would be a great resource for hands-on learning.
“We identify trees, we sample leaf litter, we go down and look at the creek and do water quality testing,” Koch said. “What makes Marquette unique is that we actually have a lot of these natural areas that we can use in our classes.”
Koch said he has already taken some of his classes to study things such as humidity and fossils and has already seen the impact of going outdoors.
“Some students have emailed me saying it was great being out there and nice to listen to all of the birds chirping and singing,” Koch said.
Dan Whiting, biology teacher and contributor to the project, said after the clearing process is done, there are plans to integrate native plants and wildflowers back into the environment through a potential grant from the Wild Ones nonprofit organization.
Within the past year, Whiting implemented a biodiversity project where students inventoried native and nonnative species on campus.
“The trail will allow us next year to see a lot more species that we weren’t able to last year,” Whiting said.
