Officials with the Alabama Wildlife Federation and others recognized East Elementary’s outdoor classroom during a ceremony May 15.

“I have to tell you, this is actually a classroom. It’s not just a garden,” said East principal David Wiggins. “It’s a place for learning for our students, a place for students to get their hands involved in creating something beautiful.”

East Elementary School is the first city school to receive certification as an Outdoor Classroom School through the AWF’s outdoor classroom program. The school also received the Schoolyard Wildlife Habitat certification through the National Wildlife Federation.

“This amazing achievement is part of a process that began almost 10 years ago with the tireless efforts of many dedicated educators and students to make this possible,” said outdoor classroom sponsor Leeanne Smith.

Smith thanked the North Alabama Agriplex and Alabama Wildlife for creating the plan for the placement of the beds and garden stations at the pavilion — with the assistance of the CCS maintenance department — and praised the parental involvement that included added workdays and fundraisers.

Due to those additional workdays and help from volunteers, the outdoor classroom has seen several additions in the past year, including The George Washington guard harbor garden bed, a decomposition station, a weather station with weather tools, classroom resources for the pavilion, enhancements to the songbird Sanctuary, a double “Frog Bog” and turtle habitat, and a bat house.

Tim Gothard, executive director for the Alabama Wildlife Federation, praised the work that went into the project.

“Outdoor, hands-on education is a great way to teach personal responsibility about how we manage wise use and responsible stewardship of our natural resources, while at the same time achieving exactly what you want to achieve in the classroom — math, science, social studies and language arts,” said Gothard. “What you’ve accomplished here today is a big deal. Your principal and the teachers have worked tirelessly to earn this certification.”

East Elementary is one of more than 350 schools across Alabama developing and using an outdoor classroom.