A school in western Michigan is taking learning outdoors as a way to help keep students and teachers safe from the coronavirus.
Holland Christian elementary-level teachers went through a training course on outdoor education this week with the Outdoor Discovery Center, The Holland Sentinel reported Friday.
But that wasn’t totally new to Holland Christian, which has had a Forest School that placed kindergarten and first grade classrooms in an outdoor setting.
“We’ve seen (outdoor education) work so well with the Forest School, I think that opened the door to training other teachers,” said Miska Rynsburger, principal of Holland Christian’s Forest School and Rose Park Elementary. “It’s just another example of deciding not to be defeated by COVID, but to be creative and open a new door to a new realm of learning that we’ve found to be successful with the Forest School.”
The Outdoor Discovery Center conducted the training on an 84-acre property the school district gained access to for educational purposes. Rynsburger noted that teachers will not be required to participate in outdoor learning.
“There is no expectation or mandate for teachers to go outside,” Rynsburger said. “The training was meant to take teachers to the outdoor setting that Holland Christian has been given access to and allow them to be immersed in nature, sit with colleagues and explore how their curricula might fit.”
Districts around the country are considering outdoor learning and other ways to conduct in-person instruction while reducing the threat of the coronavirus as much as possible.
