OUTDOOR EDUCATION, A TOP PRIORITY IN SAN ANTONIO

Genet Tulgetske

Thanks to the generosity of York Duncan, President and CEO of the Texas Research Park Foundation, and the efforts of Debbie Traynor, NISD Elementary Science Instructional Specialist, San Antonio will soon have a top-notch outdoor education site. The Texas Research Park Foundation and the Northside Independent School District are working together to create the NISD Outdoor Classroom. Its location at the Texas Research Park places the NISD Outdoor Classroom in the transition zone between Edwards Plateau, the Blackland Prairies and the South Texas Brush Country. The result is a setting naturally greater in diversity than most in San Antonio.

The NISD Outdoor Classroom, designed by landscape architect Larry Clark, is currently under construction and expected to be completed this summer. It will consist of a half-mile, wheelchair accessible nature trail complete with at least four learning stations, including an orientation/ecology shelter, a geology shelter, a wildlife shelter and a botany shelter. In addition, the classroom will include a butterfly garden featuring native vegetation, and eventually, a xeriscape garden, and a working weather station. The final goal of the NISD Outdoor Classroom is to create an interpretive outdoor education site that will provide an enriching natural experience for all those who visit regardless of age or background. The site is open to the public for self-guided tours, as well as providing outdoor exposure as an extension of classroom curricula to NISD students via guided field trips.

Although construction is not yet complete, the trail has been laid down and is currently being used to guide Northside fifth-graders on daily field trips focusing on native vegetation and wildlife. A project is underway to identify the plant life on the site and create identification markers along the trail. Also, the Outdoor Classroom is looking for volunteers to assist in regularly scheduled clean-ups. Scouts or other small groups volunteering their services will be treated to a guided tour. If you are interested in helping with plant identification or occasional cleanup, or if you would like further information about the new NISD Outdoor Classroom, please contact Kelly Fazio by email or phone at (210) 706- 8661.