AUGUSTA — Once upon a time, a Maine family’s livelihood, even survival, might depend on its ability to understand and use the outdoors to shelter and feed its members. Today educators are rediscovering that learning outside not only has tangible advantages for kids but helps them develop skill sets and emotional intelligence that will last their lifetime.

Oxford Hills has been leading the trend for years now, becoming a model for other public and private schools to incorporate experiential education into their own new programs. Outdoor learning was a cornerstone of former Agnes Gray Elementary School Principal Beth Clarke’s vision for West Paris students and it was the $250,000 Rethinking Remote Education Ventures (RREV) grant she spearheaded that made it possible to hire an educator, Sarah Timm, dedicated to developing outdoor curriculum.

Last week, Timm was a featured speaker at a celebration for outdoor education hosted at the state capital’s Hall of Flags by Maine Department of Education, addressing other organizations, legislators, educators and students about the impact it has had in Oxford Hills.

The event also boasted the release of the 2022 Census of Community-Based Outdoor and Environmental Learning report, a collaborative data project developed by the Teach ME Outside initiative. According to Alex Braili of the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance (MMSA), data from the census is being used to inform policy, decision making and funding for future outdoor education programs.

“Research shows that being outside is as effective as ADHD medication,” Timm told participants. “All children deserve the best we can give them. The world has given them screens, both at home and, more and more frequently, at school, and it gave them a pandemic to struggle through during their formative years, requiring isolation and yet more screen time.

“We must strive to provide for all children the antidote to the modern world, and the societal problems that seem, at times, overwhelming. This antidote is time outside, to work and play and connect. Time to be themselves.”

While Timm’s primary focus is to immerse elementary age students in outdoor learning, Oxford Hills Tech School brought its own spin to the concept by launching an outdoor recreation program that serves as a track to careers as Maine Guides and other related fields for Buckfield and Oxford Hills high school students.

Students from the program, accompanied by OHTS instructor Andrew Merrill, also trekked to Augusta to share opportunities that open through outdoor ed.

“As a teacher I feel like I’ve won the lottery by getting this opportunity to approach Maine hospitality through outdoor recreation activities,” Merrill told the Advertiser Democrat. “These are lessons that will ensure a solid foundation of hospitality skills, while building our recreational activities experience and our campfire cooking skills.

“Often though, it is the small wonders in nature that steal the show and monopolize the discussions. Students are incredibly intuitive and complex …. In nature, they learn differently. There’s a quietness and stillness with space for students to more deliberately examine their place in the world.”

“Outdoor Recreation has been a great experience for me,” shared Harrison OHTS junior Brayden Ryan. “I have learned a lot of things that I know will help me in the future and would definitely recommend this class to others who wish to learn more about the outdoors.”

“You can learn different things that you haven’t experienced before at school, in outdoor learning,” added sophomore Nicholas Cronin Ring of Norway.

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