DURHAM CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
St. Mary Catholic Secondary School Builds Outdoor Classroom

Shovels hit the soil at St. Mary Catholic Secondary School on May 15, as students in Grades 9-12 participated in a final build day for their outdoor learning space. This outdoor classroom has been years in the making, and the St. Mary community is extremely close to completing the project. The outdoor classroom was made possible through a grant from the City of Pickering, the Learning Innovation Fund for Teachers (LIFT), and Durham Catholic District School Board Facilities Services.

The large shipping container that was brought to the school in 2020 is now a space with exterior walls and a gazebo, surrounded by picnic tables and garden planters that have been designed, built, and maintained by students in the St. Mary Outdoor Education Leadership Team and Mr. DiFonzo's Construction Technology class. The goal of the outdoor space is to extend learning outside of the traditional classroom and participate in experiential learning. The classroom is solar-operated and has folding chairs and a mini-projector so students and educators can learn in a natural environment.

"The idea of this outdoor classroom is that it is a space that can be grown and expanded on every year," said Joel Pisani, Curriculum Chair of Business, Computers and Technology Studies at St. Mary Catholic Secondary School. Mr. Pisani has been facilitating the Outdoor Education Leadership Team who has been, and will continue to be, adding on to the space each year by planting new greenery and crops to the vegetable gardens and building new outdoor furniture for the classroom. Joel added, "Students have matured and gained transferrable skills, like gardening and landscaping, as well management and leadership skills."

U.J., a Grade 11 student, joined the Outdoor Education Leadership Team because his siblings spoke very highly of the group and the outdoor classroom project. "My siblings have really enjoyed this project and I wanted to be a part of this experience with them," U.J. shared. "I like this project because it's hands-on and it's made by the students, for the students. It also teaches us how to be more sustainable and is different than other school clubs." U.J. is proud of these accomplishments and said that it's a cool memory that he gets to share with his friends.

Educator, Kimberley Leach, applied for the LIFT fund and was able to assist in bringing this project to life. "This project has been great because students are gaining cross-disciplinary skills where they can connect what they've learned here to the subjects they are learning in class, and this project opens up potential career pathways for the future," Kimberley said. "Students have a sense of accomplishment, and they are so excited to show up and take part in gardening, planting, or building. They do this on their own time, so it goes to show how much they care about this project."

St. Mary Catholic Secondary School is so grateful for community partners, We Grow Food and the City of Pickering, for their collaboration on this project. The outdoor classroom will continue to expand with a goal that students and educators will be able to conduct full classes in the outdoor learning space by the end of September 2024.