The new classroom at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge has a roof to shelter from rain and sun. But there aren’t walls, so classes with as many as 50 students can see the environment around them, including the water, and go on excursions to learn and explore.
And it will be available to the public when not in use for students.
The classroom officially opened last weekend, with many of the past and present Environmental Studies Program students who helped design and build it.
“They are engaging with nature,” said Cheryl Woodhouse, chief of staff for Virginia Beach schools. “They are strengthening their critical thinking, their observation and their inquiry skills.”
The nearly $200,000 classroom is the result of years of work by the refuge and the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge Society, a nonprofit friends organization, with support from volunteers, businesses and students.
Chris Freeman, coordinator of the Environmental Studies Program, serves as president of the society. Freeman told WHRO that past education trips to local beaches revealed that some Virginia Beach fourth-graders had never visited them.
“We really wanted to create a pathway for student learning that was very student-centered and focused on getting students out into these wild places,” Freeman said.
The classroom design and materials used also considered the needs of people who are disabled. Furniture in the classroom can be moved and materials were used to make sure they don’t retain heat.
Erin Peck, now studying modeling and simulation engineering in college, helped design the structure as part of a high school internship with an architectural firm.
“I'm hoping that this kind of makes it a little bit more accessible to students because they'll get to actually come over here and do school in the refuge.”