Swift Consolidated Elementary School has partnered with Alabama Outdoor Classroom Program through the Alabama Wildlife Federation to help construct an outdoor classroom for Swift students.

Lynn Smith, principal of Swift School, said that the outdoor classroom will have over a dozen stations for students to learn about things like pollination and decomposition by observing the processes happening before their eyes.

"The outdoor classroom concept is all about how to take care of the wildlife and vegetation in local communities, which is so important for this area to thrive," Smith said.

Some outdoor classroom stations will include a butterfly garden, vegetable and flower garden, frog and toad pond, a decomposition station and much more. Smith said that students are "naturally more engaged" when studying outdoors in a fun and hands-on manner.

"These stations are culturally relevant to our area as well," Smith said. "The vegetables they grow and the wildlife they will learn how to take care of are all part of their local community."

Smith said that there are numerous benefits to having an outdoor classroom such as introducing students to outdoor and natural based learning environments, increasing academic achievement through hands-on activities and encouraging the beautification of school campuses.

Smith said that Swift School was trying to find a program that would "fit our shrimping/fishing community" and the opportunity for the outdoor classroom led to the creation of an outdoor classroom committee at the school.

"The students have been very excited to help get this project going. Students did not picture the area being as big as it is, and they are amazed," Smith said. "Next week, they will begin planting the gardens."

The Alabama Wildlife Federation website states that the Alabama Outdoor Classroom Program helps to develop a wildlife habitat to be used for "hands-on, inquiry-based activities" and also help the schools establish a maintenance plan to sustain the outdoor classroom over time.

The website describes an outdoor classroom as "a living laboratory with a schoolyard habitat and outdoor learning stations that allow students to observe wildlife, explore nature and apply what they learn indoors to real-world learning opportunities in the outdoors."

Smith said this project was made possible through the support of the community from local businesses and families. The total cost is estimated to be around $15,000 and all of it was funded through grants and donations to the school. After working on the program for a year, Smith said that the school is excited to get this project off the ground.