DANFORTH, Maine — After many months of planning, the East Grand School’s outdoor classroom will celebrate its grand opening on Wednesday, April 12, from 3-6 p.m.
“The Outdoor Classroom at East Grand is the direct result of many hours of volunteer effort, the gifting of land directly adjacent to the school, numerous individual donations, local contractor services and substantial funding from private foundations,” said Dave Conley, outdoor education instructor. “A special thank you to students, staff, administration and school board members; not to mention the dedication of all those serving on the Natural Resources Pathway Planning Committee.”
Conley, who works with fellow instructor Tammi Matula in the Outdoor Education program at Danforth, said there would be no outdoor classroom if it were not for the gift of adjacent land from Patrick and Ruth-Ann Cowger, which provided direct and immediate access from the school to the classroom.
“A huge amount of volunteerism and donations from numerous individuals and groups within and outside of the communities of Danforth and Weston,” he said. “Individuals such as John Ribe of Weston and North Maine Woods of Houlton/Ashland.”
Conley added the construction work and skills of Steve Gray and Trent Noyse of Danforth were also big assets in seeing the project to fruition. Major funding for the Outdoor Classroom was provided by the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation through the direct efforts of The Conservation Fund.
“The East Grand School has traditionally depended upon our natural surroundings to support and augment public school offerings,” Conley said. “The success of the long-standing Outdoor Education Program, the outdoor component of physical education, the outdoor heritage class, the Garden Center and the off-site study of the Baskahegan Company’s Harlow Forest are but a few examples.”
Now the Outdoor Classroom will be added to that learning concept, especially for the younger students. While the Classroom remains a work-in-progress, strategic planning is well under way to privately fund and implement a Natural Resources Pathways Project for students who wish to explore a livelihood in the natural resources area.
A ribbon-cutting and community thank-you ceremony will be held at 5:30 p.m., also on April 12.
