“This is untapped potential,” Gary McCoombs, principal of Hoxsie Elementary School said Friday as he gestured to the wooded area that surrounds the school.

McCoombs and fifth-grade teacher Bill Potter approached the lush area, explaining their idea to put two outdoor classrooms and a nature walk in the greenspace behind the school.

 one of seven Warwick elementary schools to receive $100,000 grants for infrastructure and educational programming to facilitate outdoor education.  Other Warwick schools awarded Learning Inside Out Outdoor Classroom grants from the Rhode Island Department of Education are Cedar Hill, Greenwood, Norwood, Oakland Beach, Robertson and Wyman. The $700,000 that was presented to Warwick Public Schools is just a portion of the $7.5 million that was awarded across the state.

Each school has its own plan to use the funds. Greenwood will convert a courtyard into a garden space, Norwood will build a sensory garden and walking path, Robertson will build a bug hotel and pine forest zone, Oakland Beach will create outdoor classroom spaces, Cedar Hill will build an amphitheater and Wyman will create three outdoor spaces. According to a memo released by Superintendent Lynn Dambruch, all of these projects should be completed by December 2023, and the district will help each school maintain their outdoor spaces.

House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, Mayor Frank Picozzi, Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green, Dambruch and School Committee members joined parents, teachers and students to announce the awards Thursday at Wyman School. The awards are made possible with funds from RIDE’s School Building Authority and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Shakarchi said that this award is “so important for Warwick” and is a “testament to the dedication and hard work of our teachers and staff.” Many stakeholders expressed their excitement for the opportunity to expand educational practices outside.

“This initiative will show students that learning just doesn’t happen within four walls of a classroom,” Dambruch said. “It will give them the opportunity to experience learning in an outdoor environment and encourage children to explore, wonder and experience inquiry-based learning.”

According to Infante-Green, Rhode Island is #1 in leading environmental education and is the top state in New England for Green Ribbon learning. She views this grant and the funded programs as an extension of the state’s commitment to sustainability and outdoor education.

Infante-Green also shared some of the proposed projects from schools all over Rhode Island, including “food and pollinator gardens, pathways, amphitheaters, pond upgrades and outdoor classrooms for students to learn about sustainability, irrigation, aquatics, farm to school initiatives, habitat restorations and much more.”

Each school is in the early phases of planning. McCoombs said Hoxsie will likely use the $100,000 to clear the trail and outdoor space, buy 8 to 10 big tables and install security and safety technology, but it is still too early to determine exactly how they will use the funds. He hopes there will be ongoing conversations with the district to discuss ways to keep the costs down.

Dr. Virginia Lund, a parent of a second-grader at Wyman, helped to write the grant proposal on behalf of the school because “this is an additional space of learning and growing and being for our children.” Lund acknowledged that many teachers were already “dedicated to going outside and finding creative ways to learn,” but she believes that with the RIDE recognition and support, it will be “easier and more accessible and more possible.”

She said that the school plans to use the awarded funds to build a pollinator garden, restore the habitat with native plants, construct some ‘hardscaping’ for a patio area as a “space to gather” and clean up the trail to make a ‘story walk’ with posts of writing and images of books.

While writing the grant proposal, Lund visited classrooms to hear what students and teachers wanted. She recalled one student approaching her and telling her that he saw a blue jay on the windowsill, and she was inspired by his “wild wonder and appreciation.” She hopes that the outdoor additions will help more students experience that joy.

“It matters to get ourselves into nature,” she added. “It matters to spend time in the wonder and beauty that’s all around us. It matters for our children to recognize the impact that they have on our neighbors, animals and otherwise, through their actions in the environment.”

Potter agrees. He shared when he taught elementary school science he would “have the kids just sit, close their eyes and just listen to all of the sounds that they don’t realize were there.” He’s excited to have the opportunity to do activities like that on a more regular basis with infrastructure to support it.

Deborah Faith, with Colliers Project Leaders, oversees a lot of school construction in Rhode Island. She said that they have built outdoor learning spaces for other school districts and “knows that it’s a really great thing.”

Kerri Manson, PTA president of Wyman Elementary, views this grant as a win for the whole community.

“It’ll be something for the whole community to use, not just Wyman students but the Gaspee community,” Manson said. “It’s just something for all of us to enjoy.”

Lund acknowledges that this is only the beginning.

“This is going to be a lot of work going forward,” Lund said. “I know that our school community is energized and excited to do the work to make these dreams and these plans a reality.”