St. Paul Lutheran School

We are sustaining our Nature Explore Classroom through collaboration. We have a landscape committee that meets three to four times a year. The committee is made up of teachers, church members, and school family members.

We make yearly goals for updating the classroom area, days to prune and trim back plants, discuss improvements needed to the structures, etc.. Each committee member also takes one week in the summer to water the plants, weed the beds, and check the area. Each spring the PTL hosts a local fundraiser to help cover the costs of any updates, plants, and mulch to the Nature Explore Classroom. We create a photo slideshow of the children interacting with classroom to show parents and community members how we utilize the Nature Explore Classroom on a daily basis.

This special space could not be maintained by one individual. I love the way our church and school families come together to donate their time and their fundraising efforts to make this an engaging and calming space for the children. One of my favorite moments is to listen to them compose music outside. I love how some areas calm them, promote teamwork (balls and chutes), and spark their creativity as in using the wood cookies to build a fort during the winter months. What a blessing to have so many invested in the success of this space.

“Teaching children about the natural world should be seen as one of the most important events in their lives.” ~

Thomas Berry, The Dream of the Earth