The Eco-Kids Explorers and parent volunteers test drive their new outdoor classroom. The Haldane Central School District recently welcomed a new outdoor teaching facility to its campus. An outdoor classroom was set up in the woods on school property adjacent to James Pond. The "classroom" consists of several rustic benches made of tree stumps and rough-milled boards that were set into a clearing near the pond. The benches and teacher's desk were erected with almost no disturbance to the environment.

In its first week of service, the classroom was used by several classes of eager children and was enthusiastically received by the teaching staff. Maggie Davis, Elementary and Middle School Principal, noted that the new teaching space was so instantly popular that the district will have to set up a reservation system to avoid having multiple classes show up to use it at the same time.

The outdoor classroom was organized and made possible by a grant from the Haldane School Foundation and volunteer efforts and donations from local businesses. Jerry Allen of Philipstown Tree Service provided heavy logs for the benches and manpower to help set the seating in place. Jeff Dain of Dain's Lumber arranged to have several logs cut into boards for the bench tops. Design and installation of the classroom was coordinated by Haldane High School Science Department Head, Mark Patinella, who also used his considerable carpentry skills to help with the construction.

The Haldane School Foundation will run a teacher training program in August that will include a special course in teaching children out-of-doors. The goal of the Foundation's efforts to create the outdoor classroom is to promote the use of James Pond and its surroundings as teaching resources without incurring any cost to local taxpayers.