Taking it Outside: Designing Outdoor Learning Opportunities for Saline High School

Abstract

In this project, our team set out to provide ideas for design interventions and for creating educational opportunities for Saline High School’s Campus. With the construction of a new high school in the early 2000s, the Saline campus incorporated what used to be surrounding wetlands, agricultural and forested land, and preserved some of the habitat areas while converting the majority of the land into a more ‘traditional’ high school campus landscape. There is ample space and opportunity to provide the school with creative design solutions which would allow the school community to better utilize their campus while also infusing sustainability, environmental awareness, and a culture of stewardship into the curriculum. Teachers at the school remarked on the lack of dedicated space for gathering a whole class for outdoor learning. Outdoor classrooms were included in nearly every one of the eight design areas. Each design area has associated educational opportunities tailored to the area and proposed design. Every effort was made to incorporate educational opportunities for a diverse set of subjects, from science and math to art and language. This project incorporates research-based design practices to develop design recommendations focused on enhancing the local environment and providing educational opportunities to Saline High School students.