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Copper Mill sports new outdoor classroom -- 09.01.2009
Copper Mill Elementary has come a long way since the school opened four years ago. Dewey Davis, principal since the very first school year, remembers a time when he was fretting over whether the students and teachers
would ever have the luxury of dial-up internet access at the school.
Now, not only is the campus near Zachary equipped with fiber optic internet availability and other modern amenities, it also has something that is the envy of many schools throughout the Sportsman’s Paradise – an outdoor classroom.
This school year will be the first opportunity for students to use the outdoor learning facility that was recently
constructed and made possible by a $200,000 environmental impact grant.
Davis said he has big dreams for the classroom. Though a full educational curriculum is still being formulated as the new school year gets under way, he hopes the outdoor classroom will be utilized by those students and teachers in all core areas of study.
“It’s a real educator’s dream to have a unique learning environment like this for our students and teachers,”
he said. “I envision this being used for all kinds of classes and subjects ranging from language arts to math. Students can come out here to study the environment, the habitat and the ecosystems, but they can also come out here and be inspired to write or paint or draw the things they see.”
The outdoor classroom, which is served by DEMCO along with the rest of the campus, is situated around a 1.3-acre storm water retention pond that was already on the property since the school was built four years ago. The classroom is spacious enough to accommodate two classes simultaneously and features tiered seating for the students along with a built-in wooden flange along the inside railing that serves as a desktop for texts and notebooks. It also has a galvalume roof that effectively reflects the sun’s heat, while the open structure allows plenty of air circulation and creates a comfortable learning environment even on the hottest late summer days. Contractors also installed a quarter-mile concrete walking path and an attractive metal fence around the perimeter of the pond.
The pond is lined with cypress trees, equipped with aerators and stocked with bream and bass. There’s also a hand-pump that students can use to easily draw samples from the pond and analyze the contents of the water that drains into the pond after a rainstorm.
“We’ve turned something that was a sore thumb on the property into a pretty neat learning environment for our kids. It’s really beautiful,” Davis said. “We’re very fortunate in that this is a first-class facility that many educators may not have the opportunity to see in their entire careers.” The folks at Copper Mill don’t intend on being stingy with their good fortune. Davis said he welcomes other schools - elementary to senior high - within the Zachary School District and beyond to utilize the structure.
“We want this to benefit the entire education community,” Davis said. “Hands-on experience is extremely important to the learning process. Research studies show that the retention of knowledge is far higher when students learn by doing.”
Future planned additions to the facility include landscaping, computer and internet connections, benches, species labeling, ceiling fans and various pieces of equipment for conducting outdoor science experiments. Davis said he would also like to tie in the outdoor classroom to other areas of the campus such as the playground and develop a nearby butterfly garden and a vegetable garden.
“Studying the environment is something that is important for both school-age children and adults. We feel this will give us a big advantage in teaching our kids how critical it is to know more about the planet we inhabit,” Davis said. Siblings Jami Kleinpeter, 12, Caleb Kleinpeter, 9, and Brooklyn Kleinpeter, 7, got a sneak peek at the classroom just a few days before school opened. They tested out the hand pump and scurried down to the water’s edge to see the bream waiting for scraps of food to be tossed in.
“This is a neat place. I can’t wait for class to start!” Jami said as Davis looked on. Others assisting in the outdoor classroom project are Georgia Pacific, Boy Scouts of America and the LSU AgCenter.
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