Snowbanks, forests become year-round classrooms in Monticello

MONTICELLO — As flurries swirled across an open field just west of here Thursday, a group of fifth-graders knelt in the snow for their technology lesson.

Bundled up in snow pants, face masks and mittens, the students practiced their coding skills by building shapes with blocks of snow using codes they had designed.

"I have two coats on right now — and heated socks and handwarmers," said 10-year-old Santana.

"But you don't need that stuff to be out here," piped in 11-year-old Kaitlyn, who said she just wears a lot of layers.

The fifth-graders are the oldest of the 180-or-so students in Monticello School District's Nature-Based Education program, which organizers say is the only nature-based curriculum for upper elementary grades in the state.

"We started looking at different programs and schools. We were never able to find anyone who did exactly what we do," said Liz Barnes, a third-grade teacher.

A sprinkling of public school districts and private institutions have started nature-based preschool or kindergarten programs in recent years, which is easier to plan because learning is more play-based in younger grades. But planning an outdoor curriculum for upper elementary grades — with social studies, math and STEM lessons — is more of a challenge.

Barnes, in her 15th year of teaching, said she had to reimagine how she thought about lessons. Now she sees sticks and trees as opportunities to learn about angles.

"I never would have thought to do this in my four-walled classroom," Barnes said. "Slowly but surely I was able to change my brain to think, 'What can I do outside with this? What can I use in nature with this lesson?'"

The district is in its fourth year of nature-based programming but only the second year for upper elementary grades. Barnes said she volunteered to teach outdoors last year as a way to get more fresh air during the pandemic.

"I thought, I can do anything for a year," Barnes said. But she came back for a second year — and so did nearly all of the students enrolled in the program.

A market for nontraditional learning

Superintendent Eric Olson, who has been with the district for 17 years, said he was inspired by the Finnish model of education when helping plan the program: "They go outside at least 15 minutes every hour.

"There are a lot of kids who like to learn traditionally but I feel like there is a market out there for kids who learn untraditionally. They are so intelligent but I don't think it always shows up because of behavior," Olson said. "I wanted to find a way to embrace movement, embrace kids not having to sit to learn but touch and move and do to learn."

The program started with outdoor classrooms for preschool and kindergarten. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed district leaders to expand to outdoor learning for grades 1-5, too.

"It grew faster than I think we thought it would go out of the gates" Olson said.

The program is so popular it has a wait list. Students in the program learn to use their school-issued devices so they are prepared when they attend the brick-and-mortar school starting in sixth grade, Olson said.

Long-range planning could entail expanding the program to secondary grades, but Olson first wants to find a permanent home for the program, which now operates using leases with the city, county, a local church and the YMCA. He'd also like the program to grow organically by slowly adding more sections to the elementary grades before taking it to the middle school level.

Fifth-grade teacher Barb Tindle, who has taught for more than two decades, was instrumental in helping plan logistics and learning at outdoor sites. Tindle worked at a Boy Scout camp for multiple summers and a winter camp for two years, which she said helped her envision how outdoor learning could look.

But even camp leadership experience didn't prepare her for teaching kids in a snowbank, she joked. She now looks for hands-on lessons that kids can't experience in regular classrooms.

"Every math book I've ever seen has talked about finding the volume of a pit or the volume of a pool — if you were going to fill a pool with sand, how much sand would you need?" Tindle said.

It just so happens the YMCA site has an empty pool. So kids are able to walk or crawl along the pool floor and measure its length, width and height.

"It's been a lot of extra work because it's not as easy as just opening the teacher's manual and turning to Lesson Two, but it really does hit home a little more," Tindle said.

'This is Minnesota — what are you thinking?'

The biggest challenge usually is the weather. When the temperature is 0 degrees or has a wind chill of 5 below, students learn inside shelters at the sites or get bused back to the elementary school.

"That is always the first question we get: [People are] like, 'It's great for the fall and the spring but this is Minnesota — what are you thinking?'" said Maria Wessman-Conroy, dean of students for nature-based learning. "We are a very immersive program. Our goal is to have students spend 70% to 90% of their day outside, even in the wintertime."

That lends itself to experiences that kids in brick-and-mortar buildings might miss out on. Last year, nature-based students went cross-country skiing, ice fishing, ice skating and mountain biking. They saw a dog sledding demonstration, and someone brought a horse to show-and-tell.

Students who thrive on routine or who really hate the elements might not enjoy nature-based learning. But parents and teachers say they have seen boosts to the children's creativity, independence and ability to problem-solve.

Jennifer Smith, a parent of two boys in the program, said her fourth-grader Graham used to cry every morning and plead to stay home from school. That's changed since he started learning outside.

"Now neither of our kids have complained about school," Smith said. "They are up and ready, dressed in their long johns and whatever layers they have to put on. I've never seen them so happy.

"It just kind of cracks me up to drop your kid off and they're trudging across a field to get to school," Smith added. "It just makes me giggle. Sometimes it feels like the olden days."

Tindle said she's seen a change in her students, too. Not only are they a more cohesive classroom group, they are more flexible and positive.

"There is something to be said for solving your own problems and learning to be resilient. It builds that grit," Tindle said. "You come out on the other side a very different person."