RC&D Grant Helps Pay for New Outdoor Classroom in Calhoun County

(Extracted from The Anniston Star news article by Steve Ivey)

Saks Elementary School in Calhoun County recently celebrated the beginning of a new outdoor classroom for hands-on learning. A centerpiece is a greenhouse, paid for with a grant from the Coosa Valley Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Council.

Teacher Amy Shelley said the school’s autism unit, which teaches children age 3 to 13, will use the greenhouse for real-life lessons. “It’s a way to teach them in a natural seeing,” said Shelley. “They have to find a way to relate. If you show them real life, it goes a little better.”

Hector Baezar, principal at Saks Elementary School, said the autism unit can grow flowers to sell to help raise funds for the program. Students also will be able to grow garden vegetables that might then be served in the school cafeteria.  Landscapers will work on the outdoor classroom throughout the spring.

Heidi Richards, Coosa Valley RC&D Coordinator, said the organization has paid for outdoor classrooms in other nearby counties, but Saks was the first in Calhoun County. The Council sees environmental education as part of its goal to improve environmental conditions throughout northeast Alabama.

NRCS RC&D is a unique program that helps people protect and develop their economic, natural, and social resources in ways that improve their area's economy, environment, and quality of life. Local RC&D councils provide ways for people to plan and implement projects that will make their communities a better place to live. They bring together people, needs, concerns, opportunities, and solutions. The Saks Elementary School benefited from being a Coosa Valley RC&D Council project in Calhoun County.

March 2007

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