Pocono News Section

New Outdoor Classroom Coming to Lakeland Elementary

New Outdoor Classroom Coming to Lakeland Elementary - Monday, May 11, 2009 at 2:30PM EST

Reported by: Mark Hiller
Monday, May 11, 2009 @ 02:30pm EST
SCOTT TWP., LACKAWANNA COUNTY- A ceremonial groundbreaking for a first of its kind classroom in Lackawanna County. The school's preparing for a construction project that'll lead to hundreds of students learning outside of the classroom.

A sign on the grounds of Lakeland Elementary School gives you an idea of what's coming soon. The school has plans for an outdoor learning center. 6th grader Joey Snedeker said, "I think that kids should be outside more often, like, they can learn about science out here and do science experiments."

3rd grader Cassie Stracham said, "You can be outside more and you can get more fresh air."

A backhoe sits where the outdoor learning center will soon one day stand. And what a view of the horizon students and their teachers will get -- a setting the principal hopes will expand learning possibilities. Principal Alan King said, "Whether you're reading in just a comfortable setting or, you know, you're doing experiments. We do things with butterflies. What a better place to do it than to do it outside."

Lakeland Elementary is home to some 500 students and many of them had a hand in actually raising the funds to make this project possible.

Students and their families took part in dress-down day fund-raisers, raffles and candy sales -- all under the guidance of the school PTA. Superintendent Margaret Billings-Jones said, "They have funded 15,000 of it. Our administration also wrote for a grant for an additional 10,000 dollars that was funded."

Cassie Stracham and her sister, Hannah, are especially excited about the project. 6th grader Hannah Stracham said, "I'll probably be up here every day 'cause my dad is the contractor, my dad has to dig it."

The digging won't start until after the Lakeland school year ends June 12th. Lakeland School District hopes students can begin using the outdoor learning center for the start of the next school year.