Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Building an Outdoor Classroom

  • 10/01/16
Outdoor Classroom

The Kingsley-Pierson Community School District created a comfortable and innovative outdoor classroom to help students get a more hands-on educational experience.

In late 2013, the Kingsley-Pierson (Iowa) Community School District invested money from an anonymous donor to augment memorial money, given in honor of a deceased student, to build an outdoor classroom. Landscaping was installed in 2014. The six-sided shelter house is wheelchair accessible and along each side of the shelter is a Pilot Rock (brand) bench. The all-steel, 6-ft.-long benches have perforated seats and backs.

Each backrest includes a custom message to the student body: Respect, Citizenship, Caring, Fairness, Trustworthiness and Responsibility — the six pillars of the Character Counts program. “A contractor built the shelter house. And the benches were purchased from R.J. Thomas Mfg. Co. We also enlisted our students to help. The horticulture class and our FFA program were instrumental with the landscaping around the classroom,” says Scott Bailey, superintendent and high school principal. “Elementary classes have used the classroom on different occasions. Some classes take students out for whole group reading on pioneer life and farming. High school classes use it, too. The students like to get outside on nice days,” he says.

There have also been presentations by groups from outside the school system. “There have been lectures to different classes on gardening and geology,” says Bailey, “and recently the Siouxland Humane Society did a presentation on animal care and safety. The new facility has proven popular with the students and the community.” To equip the classroom with benches the school contacted R.J. Thomas Mfg. Co., Cherokee, Iowa. The seat and back components are steel plate and perforated (punched) to create the custom letters for the six pillars of character. The thermoplastic coating over the steel creates a durable, low-maintenance bench.

www.pilotrock.com

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Montclair State University Starts Construction on $120M STEM Building

    Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J., recently broke ground on a new $120-million Interdisciplinary Science Building, according to university news. The university partnered with HoK Architects for the project’s design, and it’s scheduled to open in time for the 2028–29 academic year.

  • Hawaii Elementary School Reopens Following $25M Campus Modernization

    Haʻaheo Elementary School in Hilo, Hawaii, has reopened to students following a three-year, $25-million campus modernization and expansion project that significantly increases the school's instructional space while preserving one of the island's oldest educational institutions, according to local news.

  • University of Pennsylvania Releases Design of Future Physical Sciences Building

    The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) in Philadelphia, Penn., recently released renderings of an upcoming 350,000-square-foot Physical Sciences Building, according to news release. The facility was designed by CO Architects and will unite the university’s departments of Physics and Astronomy, Mathematics, and Earth and Environmental Science.

  • Q&A: How to Prevent Kitchen Grease Fires in Commercial Kitchens

    School cafeterias and university dining halls serve thousands of meals daily, relying on high-heat equipment like fryers, grills, and ovens. While these operations keep students fed, they also generate significant grease-laden vapors. Without proper controls, this grease becomes a silent fire threat. As a certified exhaust cleaning specialist and business coach who has helped hundreds of institutional facilities achieve NFPA 96 compliance, I emphasize that proactive grease management isn’t optional; it’s a core fire/life safety practice.