The Clear Fork Elementary School shelter will be used as a classroom during the fall and spring months, depending on the weather, said Jamie Bond, a remedial specialist. It was built with a grant from the Beckley Area Foundation.
BECKLEY, W.Va. — When you hear “classroom of the future,” do you think of a room with all of the latest technology or a “room” with plenty of opportunities to explore science, geology and other subjects?
At Clear Fork Elementary, a new shelter is revolutionizing education. Built with a grant from the Beckley Area Foundation, the simple structure — a concrete “floor,” supports, and a strong roof — is stripping away the traditional classroom approach and replacing it with educational green space. Lots of it.
“The shelter will be used as a place to learn outside of the normal classroom environment,” said Jamie Bond, a remedial specialist at Clear Fork. “A lot of students learn by doing, so having the students learn from experiences rather than from a traditional classroom approach, they are getting a deeper understanding of the content they are learning.”
The “outdoor classroom” is a concept that’s catching on nationally and started in connection to modern child development findings, according to information at www.outdoorclassroomproject.org…
