Forest Fridays got its start early in the fall of 2015, when Art teacher Coulter Young's wife Jeannine shared an idea with Superintendent Laura Mitchell. "My daughter goes to school in Danbury at the Wooster school," Young said. "Her fourth grade teacher, Mr. John Zahner, came up with the idea of Forest Fridays after reading Richard Louv's book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder.
"My wife Jeannine was having a conversation with our Superintendent Laura and told her all about the weekly event and how much our daughter loved Forest Fridays," Young said. "Laura then informed John Griffiths of the great idea, and John asked me to gather some info about it and pitch the idea to the Environmental Education Committee."
"My wife Jeannine was having a conversation with our Superintendent Laura and told her all about the weekly event and how much our daughter loved Forest Fridays," Young said. "Laura then informed John Griffiths of the great idea, and John asked me to gather some info about it and pitch the idea to the Environmental Education Committee."
After hearing the pitch regarding Forest Fridays, the idea received support. Members of both the Environmental Education Committee and the School Board agreed that a Forest Fridays program would provide a great opportunity for teachers to use the Garrison School Forest as an outdoor classroom.
During a nine-week period in fall 2015, teachers in all grade levels took their students to the School Forest to engage in lessons in a variety of disciplines. A bus transported students and teachers to a School Forest entrance adjacent to Snake Hill Road. And, the bus returned the students and teachers to the school following their outings. Students expressed great enthusiasm for Forest Fridays. On a warm, sunny afternoon in early November, first grade students found a frog in the stream and drew it in their journals. This was a highlight of their forest exploration that day, which Griffiths chronicled in the video above.
The Forest Fridays program will resume on Friday, April 8.
Griffiths, John. "Forest Fridays." 2015. MP4 file.
During a nine-week period in fall 2015, teachers in all grade levels took their students to the School Forest to engage in lessons in a variety of disciplines. A bus transported students and teachers to a School Forest entrance adjacent to Snake Hill Road. And, the bus returned the students and teachers to the school following their outings. Students expressed great enthusiasm for Forest Fridays. On a warm, sunny afternoon in early November, first grade students found a frog in the stream and drew it in their journals. This was a highlight of their forest exploration that day, which Griffiths chronicled in the video above.
The Forest Fridays program will resume on Friday, April 8.
Griffiths, John. "Forest Fridays." 2015. MP4 file.
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