WEST PARIS — Agnes Gray Elementary School, long noted as a trailblazer in educating students outdoors, has a new forest classroom specifically to foster a love of reading – the Reading Grove.
Launched a few weeks ago, kids select their books for independent reading and take to the hammock of their choice in the woods behind the school. The Reading Grove is part of a school-wide challenge to read more; classes are competing to see which one can log the most reading, both at school and at home, by the end of the school year.
“This is part of our school’s ongoing efforts to get students outside and engaged as often as possible,” Agnes Gray’s Outdoor Learning Coordinator Sarah Timm told the Advertiser Democrat. “Our kids are logging as many hours as they can reading outside, both at school and at home.
“Some of this reading is happening in our two new Reading Groves …. Our hope is to foster a love of both reading and being outside – two great things that go together so beautifully.”
Last week the Advertiser Democrat stopped in at the school to learn more about the Reading Grove and found second-graders trying out the hammocks for the first time. Students all agreed that reading in hammocks outside is much better than reading at a desk in their classroom.
Timm says that by next fall she expects some of the older students at Agnes Gray will use the Reading Grove for other class assignments as well.
Agnes Gray Elementary School second-graders Haze Gizinski (front) and Leila Frazell-Jackson explain the books that they chose to take out to the West Paris school’s new Reading Grover for independent reading. Nicole Carter / Advertiser Demoract
Neena Campbell during outdoor independent reading class with the book ‘Back on the Balance Beam.’ Nicole Carter / Advertiser Democrat
Nathan Isley brought two books with him for independent reading at Agnes Gray Elementary School’s new outdoor classroom. Nicole Carter / Advertiser Democrat
Recent class projects that have been outside include sixth-graders working on a science unit and fourth-graders building a nature trail. Those students marked out a trail through the woods, cleared the way, and using a West Paris tax map and smart app, tracked the location of the path to produce their own trail map.
Timm said that the centerpiece of Agnes Gray’s outdoor education program – a four season yurt – is scheduled to ship from the supplier next week. A team of volunteer parents are ready to break ground and construct a wooden platform. The yurt-raising will start on July 6 and be ready for use when school opens again in September.
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