District 57 reintrodues students to outdoor education activities

Shortly after the school year started, fifth-grade students at Fairview Elementary School in District 57 took a field trip to Sunrise Lake Outdoor Education Center in Bartlett. At the event, students participated in outdoor learning activities such as paddle boating, team-building games, hiking, and archery.

"One of the primary goals of this trip was to build stronger communities for our fifth-grade classrooms," said Dan Ophus, principal at Fairview Elementary School. "The different stations we engaged in allowed for students to work together, collaborate, and problem solve, which teaches important interpersonal skills and strengthens our relationships."

District 57 has a history of including outdoor education in its curriculum, but these types of experiences were lost for some years due to various factors, such as funding and COVID.

"I'm so glad the district has decided to reintroduce outdoor education to our fifth-grade students," said fifth-grade Fairview teacher, Karen Noll. "Many students had never been in a paddle boat or had experienced archery before."

The event took significant organizing, planning, and training. In addition to Fairview staff, the event required 14 parent volunteers to help lead stations and provide support throughout the day. But, in the end, the experience was well worth the effort.

"My son was completely engrossed in all of the activities," said Joey Carbone, a parent volunteer on the field trip. "It was wonderful to see all of the kids participating and working together."

SLOEC is a program owned and operated by Northwest Suburban Special Education Organization. District 57 is a member district with NSSEO. SLOEC uses experiential learning methods to build learning beyond the classroom, as they did with the students on this field trip.

"The students realized that all learning doesn't have to take place at a desk in a classroom," said Noll. "Learning can occur anywhere, including the outdoors."