School Spotlight: Champlin Park’s New Outdoor Classroom
Champlin Park High School students now have a new outdoor classroom.
And teacher Matt Hendrickson says it’s perfect to teach topics like camping.
Hendrickson teaches Outdoor Adventures Class at Champlin Park High School. It’s an environmental science course where students also learn about outdoor activities.
“It’s a great course. Very gear intensive,” Hendrickson said. “I’ve tried to maintain cost to the very minimum so it’s equitable for all students.”
The class touches on a variety of topics related to the environment, but Wednesday’s lesson is all about gear.
Hendrickson set up several stations for the students to learn how to do various camping activities, such as how to set up a tent, how to tie different knots with rope and how to protect your food from animals at a campsite.
“I really enjoy teaching these skills,” Hendrickson said.
New Champlin Park Outdoor Classroom
One thing that makes the class even more enjoyable to teach is that Hendrickson now has an outdoor, fenced-in, teaching space to utilize.
“Yeah this class is way easier to teach when I have a space that I can set things up and not have to worry about it,” he said.
The outdoor learning space is a new addition to Champlin Park that was built largely with the Outdoor Adventures Class in mind.
“It’s a good space because we don’t get to go outside a lot during class,” said a student.
Meanwhile, as the students enjoy class outside, Hendrickson hopes they’ll continue utilizing these skills as they get older. Or at the very least, become better stewards of the environment.
“They’re gonna come out and be able to be a better voter, be a better lawmaker, politician, whatever they go on,” Hendrickson said. “They’re gonna be influenced by the environment no matter where at, cause that’s our home.”
Champlin Park High School
