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Mabelvale Middle School
Little Rock, AR
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Getting urban middle school kids outside succeeds with creative programs and a dedicated teacher.
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When most kids first enter Heidi Campbell’s classroom at Mabelvale Environmental, Medical and Technology Middle School and see her collection of snakes, spiders, and mice, their first reaction is—gross!
Within a few months, however, these sixth, seventh, and eighth graders are taking care of the classroom critters that once made them shudder. By the time they leave, they are at ease in the classroom and comfortable outdoors. They’ve gone camping and even been challenged to create a shelter with little more than a trash liner.
How does Heidi make it happen?
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The Situation
Mabelvale is a 600-student magnet school in Little Rock. Beginning in grade 7, students choose to focus in one of three strands: Environment, Medical Investigations, or Technology. The school, once a high school, was renovated in 2003–2004. When parents and students were surveyed about the needs of the school, campus appeal emerged as a priority.
With opportunities like these, it would seem that Learning Outside would come easily. Not so. Most kids come to Mabelvale with little exposure to the natural world. Some start the school year so distracted by the cages and tanks in Heidi’s room, they cannot engage in class work. For many, the first challenge to overcome outdoors is getting a prized pair of athletic shoes dirty.
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The Solution
Here are some ways that teacher Heidi Campbell gets kids learning outside:
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Start slow: Heidi doesn’t just turn the kids loose and expect magic to happen. She prepares them. They start out in the classroom studying the natural world and increasing their comfort level with her assortment of specimens and animals, then make limited forays outside. They gradually become involved in planning, developing, and maintaining areas around the school campus, such as a Koi pond, flower beds, a greenhouse, trees, and a heritage garden that includes medicinal and edible plants. Inside the classroom, they become the primary caretakers for the indoor pond, aquariums, and the animals they once avoided.
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“As the year progresses, students become guardians of the areas they have improved and display protective behavior if other students deface the areas under their care.”
Heidi Campbell, 6th-8th grade teacher
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Find a hook: Heidi teaches a nine-week unit on Arkansas Forests. A major project centers on dendrochronology (the dating of past events by looking at tree rings on a cross-section of a trunk or large limb). First, with a sample from a 100-year-old tree cut down for the school’s renovation, kids examine the weather patterns and fire effects at various times during the tree’s history. Next, students determine the age of an archaeological cabin using simulated core samples. They then research and learn about significant historical and natural events that took place in each of 50 years of the cabin’s history. To complete the unit, students work with an Arkansas Forestry Commission forester to take core samples to age the trees on the property adjoining the school campus. For more tips from Heidi, see PLT’s Branch article.
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Present a challenge: Seventh and eighth graders can apply to the school’s Delta Program. As part of the program, they can opt for service learning with an environmental emphasis, including camping, rock climbing, nature mapping, and taking care of the school greenhouse.
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The same kids who could barely stand to get their shoes dirty have, by the end of their Mabelvale career, gone on a four-day camping trip that puts their classroom knowledge to work. They learn to fish and use bits of nature to create art projects. They identify animal tracks and plants. But the highlight is when they are given three items—a trash liner, six feet of string, and a knife—to build a shelter. They must take into account space for people and protection from wind and rain. Afterwards, they give a short presentation on their mishaps and how they overcame them.
Clearly, figuring out how to make that shelter from a trash bag is a school experience that Mabelvale kids will never forget.
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Mabelvale Materials
Project Learning Tree: Heidi suggests these activities for PLT-trained teachers who want to get their students learning outdoors: Nothing Succeeds Like Succession, Looking at Leaves, How Big Is Your Tree, Living with Fire, and Trees in Trouble. Teachers who are not yet PLT-trained can sign up for a local workshop and ask their facilitator for help with outdoor-oriented activities.
Arkansas Forests Forever: Arkansas Forestry Association has put together material on the state’s natural resources. Not from Arkansas? Contact your own state’s forestry association for educational materials.
Provider Pals: Mabelvale is one of about 20 schools participating in this program, designed to build understanding between urban and rural youth and rural resource providers. Each summer 8 students are chosen to spend a week in Montana learning about their resource providers. While there, students are matched up with other students from around North America.
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