The Outdoor Nature Lab at Eden Elementary School got a makeover this fall, thanks to a Greenfield-Central student who wanted to give back to her community.
Ali Moss earned the rank of Eagle Scout from her project earlier this fall at Greenfield-Central’s smallest school, north of city limits in the community of Eden.
The school may be small, but it has a unique learning environment: Eden is the only elementary school in the corporation with a Nature Lab, encouraging students to learn science and apply math and English through the environment around them.
Ali, now a freshman at Greenfield-Central High School, wanted students at her former elementary school to have even more learning opportunities for years to come. The project is one of several GC has partnered with over the years, as the school corporation values community service organizations like Scouting America to provide even greater learning opportunities for students and teachers.
Ali started her scouting journey as an Eden kindergartener, and was in Hancock County’s first all-girls Cub Scout Den back when the organization formerly known as Boy Scouts opened up to girls.
“Greenfield-Central has supported me by giving me opportunities to grow, get involved, and give back to my community,” Ali shared. “The teachers and staff have always encouraged me to take on new challenges and leadership opportunities. Being able to complete my Eagle project at Eden Elementary was a really special way to combine my Scouting journey with my school community.”
Ali, along with Katie Jones who also earned her Eagle Scout status this fall, have worked side-by-side with GC schools in their journey in the nonprofit organization.
Ali’s focus was bringing the outdoor learning space at Eden Elementary back to life as a safe, beautiful, hands-on site for students, teachers and visitors.
The Nature Lab is located behind Eden Elementary and includes a log cabin structure with benches for outdoor instruction, along with a wide open grassy area.
Ali added a bat house, an owl house, six bird houses and five flower beds to the site. The lab also now includes several sets of rakes, shovels, buckets and watering cans to take care of it in the future, along with rain barrels.
She enclosed the shelter for teachers to be able to store outdoor supplies; fixed broken wood on the benches; and cleared shrubs and bushes that had grown around the area.
The project took several weeks of planning and work to complete, she said. A lot of effort goes into becoming an Eagle Scout, culminating with a final community service project that includes reaching out to school officials, coordinating with community leaders and organizing volunteers.
Ali is thankful for her Scout troop, family and friends that stepped in and did so much work. She said Scouting has taught her leadership, responsibility, perseverance and teamwork.
“Working toward Eagle Scout gave me a big goal to work toward, and I’m really proud that I was able to accomplish it,” she said. “Eden is special to me because it’s part of my community, it was my elementary school, and I really wanted to give something back. I liked knowing that this project wasn’t just something I was doing to earn Eagle Scout— it was something that students and teachers could continue to use for years. That made it much more meaningful to me.”
Eden Principal Lisa Leliart said she is grateful that the lab was improved. It is special that Ali completed the project at Eden because it carried forward the positive memories of learning in the outdoors that she remembers from her own childhood.
“This space gives students and staff a safe place where they can learn about their outdoor environment,” Leliaert said. “We spend so much time indoors, and sometimes a change in scenery and location is a great motivator for students to continue their learning.”
Kindergarten teacher Michelle Takach said the nature lab has been used over the years for a variety of learning opportunities, including nature scavenger hunts, leaf collections and growing pumpkins. Math standards, for example, can be applied through sorting, classifying and measuring seeds or acorns. Writing can take place outdoors when students look at the clouds and describe them on paper.
In the spring, Takach plans to plant seeds with students and watch them grow– maybe carrots or radishes, so they can incorporate their five senses into learning through nature.
“They love to be out there,” Takach said of her students. “It’s a different space to learn and explore. It’s a wide-open space, but it gives them freedom to learn on their own.”
Superintendent Dr. Harold Olin says outdoor learning spaces are important for engaging students in many areas of interest. There is so much science that students can learn by observing nature, he said.
While there are pockets of outdoor learning spaces on several GC campuses, the Nature Lab at Eden is unique in size and features.
GC often works with Scouts of America and other community service groups. Often, a group from a GC school initiates a service project. Other times– like with this project– a service group contacts the school and asks how they can serve the students.
GC has a long-standing partnership with scouting groups in Greenfield. The nature lab at Eden has been the benefactor of a few previous Eagle projects over the last two decades, Olin said. Similarly, the high school campus has had a few Eagle projects as well, such as work on Mary Moore Park and the bridge that crosses Pott’s Ditch near Broadway Street.
“Maintaining wooded areas takes a lot of extra work,” Olin said. “Our maintenance crew does a lot to make the area safe, but that is not enough to make it a viable outdoor learning environment. It takes the assistance of others to keep this vision a reality. We are grateful for students like Ali who want to give back to the community in a manner that supports our students.”
By Maribeth Vaughn
