Organization Builds Outdoor Classroom At Oak Cliff School
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Two years in the making, fifth grade students at John Reagan Elementary School now have a newly-fertilized garden where their playground used to stand.
Their new outdoor classroom of sorts is all thanks to REAL School Gardens, which creates learning gardens in low-income schools and trains teachers how to use them to improve student engagement and academic achievement.
"Being able to come outside is something kids want. They don't want to be stuck in classroom all day, and this provides an environment, seating areas, white board and other things that teach earth science," said Director, Corporate Partnerships of Real School Gardens.
"This is what we want for our kids. We want them to know there's something out there," said one parent.
Advocates for giving children outdoor learning spaces, used volunteers from AT&T and Sprouts to build the garden classroom with a goal of improving academic growth in all areas.
"Really, it gives our students the opportunity to explore out in real life, where they wouldn't have that real world experience," said Principal Rudy Ramirez.
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