McDill Elementary, Madison Elementary, Point of Discovery School Add Land to the School Forest Program
For the City Times
STEVENS POINT — The Wisconsin School Forest program welcomes the addition of three new forests recently registered by the Stevens Point Area Public School District to this statewide program. The new school forests consist of a 5-acre parcel at McDill Elementary, 21 acres at Point of Discovery, and 3.5 acres at Madison Elementary School.
McDill has built and incorporated two outdoor classrooms for learning collaborating with an Eagle Scout project to create the “The Wolf Den”. Students and Families have also been involved creating chipped trails using downed trees from the woods, hosting Candlelight Hikes, on owl call night and utilizing the trails for physical education classes including skiing and snowshoeing.
Madison School has turned the forested area just to the north of the school into an outdoor classroom. There is a wood chipped area with stumps for seats for classrooms to meet and learn. Trails have been carved through the forest and additional ones are slated to be added this spring during our Green Apple Day of Service. A music wall has recently been added by an Eagle Scout and former Madison Mustang. The forest to the east of the horseshoe drive has just been added to the School Forest. There are various options for learning being discussed for this parcel.
Point of Discovery School (PoDS) plans on adding an outdoor classroom that will be designed and created by students. Students will use geometric principles to identify ideal locations on the land for group and individual seating, as well as a gazebo, enhancing their understanding of environmental content covered in learning expeditions, to build relationships with one another and develop an appreciation for the natural world.
The Boston School Forest, registered as a school forest in 1937, is frequently used by the district and seen as a leader in school forest programming in Wisconsin. Stevens Point Area Public Schools can proudly boast of having five forests for students to learn in and explore.
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources forester Lyle Eiden assisted the school district with the registration process, will be creating a stewardship plan for the land, and will continue to ensure this property is sustainably managed as a healthy forest.
Registered school forests receive a variety of benefits. They are eligible to receive free forest management assistance from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, receive free seedlings from the state nursery program, and receive assistance from the statewide school forest education specialist.
School forests are remarkable educational resources that are available to help schools meet state-mandated education standards, serve as a focus to integrate environmental education into the school’s curriculum, provide hands-on, experiential learning opportunities, strengthen school-community relations, demonstrate sustainable natural resource management, and produce income for education activities.
Wisconsin has a long and proud school forest tradition. The community forest law, which allowed schools, organizations, and municipalities to own property for forest management purposes, was passed in 1927. The first school forests in the United States were registered the following year at Laona, Wabeno, and Crandon. The program has grown considerably since its inception to include more than 400 registered school forests owned by over 230 school districts and private schools and 8 higher education institutions.
The statewide school forest program is coordinated by the LEAF Program. As a partnership between the WDNR – Division of Forestry and the Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education in the College of Natural Resources at UW – Stevens Point, the statewide school forest program provides resources to help school forests achieve their full potential.
For more information on the statewide program, contact Gretchen Marshall, Wisconsin School Forest Education Specialist, at (715) 346-2633 or [email protected] or visit http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr-
For more information on the McDill Elementary, Madison Elementary, or Point of Discovery School Forests, contact Sarah O’Donnell, Director of Communications, at 715-343-6629 or [email protected].