A group of children laid on their stomachs on a floating bridge that spans the pond at Boston School Forest, dangling worms inches above the water, fish lined up eyeing their potential dinners. SPLASH! -- a shout of surprise and laughter erupted as worms were snatched right out of the children's hands.
A day out of the classroom was still a day of learning for Chris Meinholz's second-grade class from Bannach Elementary School in Stevens Point.
The day started out with a hike through the forest, with lessons on identifying red and white pines, poison ivy and lamb's ear. A stop at the Discovery Center gave students a chance to see mounted animals up close and to use microscopes to examine insects, plants and other materials.
"They're getting hands-on experience, and that's the easiest way for them to retain what they learn," Meinholz said. "They also get to connect what we are learning in the classroom."
Wisconsin boasts 195 school forests, with about 10 to 15 that have highly developed programs such as the one at Boston School Forest, said Jeremy Solin, statewide school forest coordinator.
Wisconsin began the first school forest programs in the United States in 1927 and has continued a long history of school forest programming, especially in central Wisconsin, where Solin said about 75 percent of the highly developed and highly attended school forests can be found.
The Department of Natural Resources, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and the Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education formed the Learning, Experiences and Activities in Forestry program to help support school forests during a time when some districts were considering the sale of their forests to raise funds for the district.
In the three years his position has existed, Solin said no school districts have sold their forests.
The LEAF program offers districts assistance in developing school forest education plans, professional development for teachers and principals who use the forests and lesson guides that help teachers expand their classroom lesson plans to the forest.
Unlike Boston School Forest, some forests in the area do not have full-time forest coordinators or staff, so teachers take trips to the forests and teach the lessons.
"I think a lot of what it takes is training of teachers and helping them to feel comfortable teaching outdoors," Solin said.
Teachers in the Port Edwards School District have been through LEAF training in order to increase the use of the forest that has been a part of the district since the '50s, said forest coordinator Kristi Hawk, who also is a middle school science teacher.
Hawk said traditionally the forest was only used by middle and high school science classes for water quality testing, but use has expanded to the elementary school as well, and programs have expanded to include activities such as GPS navigating, tree identification, counting tree rings and art projects.
The Port Edwards School Forest does not have electricity or restrooms, so most field trips are part-day trips, but Hawk said there is interest in upgrading the forest.
Port Edwards, like many districts in the state, is experiencing declining enrollment, but Hawk said she thinks the community will support expanding the school forest program.
"I think that effort is continuing to grow. We have very dedicated and educated people on our school forest committee that are helping us with that task," she said. "There are people in the community that see this as a valuable tool to increase students' education and foster the outdoor education that many desire for their children."
The Marshfield Senior High School Forest is an elective program that teachers may choose to incorporate into their curriculum, but Larry Wisniewski, forest coordinator, said the forest always is packed.
"Groups use the unique environmental learning classroom out there. Just the idea that you're in a different setting, you can get an idea across better," he said.
Marshfield's forest has been up for cuts a few times, but Wisniewski said it has always been supported.
"With budget cuts over the years, the school forest has been up on the chopping block a few times, but the school has been good about supporting it. It's always stayed above water," he said.
Karen Dostel, environmental education coordinator at Boston School Forest, said if funding was cut to the forest, children wouldn't get the same quality of experience they are accustomed to having at the forest.
"Kids wouldn't have the same experiences. Right now our staff is able to act as mentors between the children and the schools and the natural setting out here. They meet the same folks here and they know who they are and trust them to give them a fun learning experience," she said.Marshfield News Herald
