A passionate environmental educator, Adam Keagy, who is also the physical education teacher at the Chairville School in Medford, formed the school’s Outdoors Club six years ago. To give the Medford Township Public School’s Board of Education an update on his environmental education endeavors, Keagy along with four of his students, gave a presentation at the Monday, Nov. 21 board meeting.
The goal of Keagy’s presentation was to illustrate the need that exists to get kids to spend more time outdoors as well as to show the steps that have worked to address those concerns. Additionally, it served as a way to lay out what steps need to be taken to improve these efforts.
“This is an important educational skill. We talk a lot about incorporation of technology, we talk a lot about 21st century skills, but I think environmental education has a place just like anything else,” Keagy said.
In expressing why the Outdoors Club, and the Environmental Club he also founded, were necessary, Keagy explained that in his research, he found American children ages 3 to 12 spend only 1 percent of their time outdoors, only 10 percent of children spend time outdoors every day, and that Americans spend 93 percent of their time indoors.
In response, the founding of the school’s Outdoors Club was done to allow students to participate in a diverse choice of local outdoor activities and to foster a personal direct experience in nature. By providing these positive experiences, Keagy believes the club is able to foster a positive relationship between students and the environment.
Thus far, the Outdoors Club, which has 120 students signed up this year, has participated in fishing, a high ropes course, rock climbing, hiking, adventure races, shelter building, dog sledding, archery, canoeing, campfire activities and a campsite set up.
“As I look back on my years at Chairville, one unique experience that stands out is the Outdoors Club,” Andreas LaRosa, a fifth grader at the Chairville School, said. “I know for sure that I would have just been bored inside on a rainy day, but instead I had an unforgettable experience and adventure in the rain on a canoe trip with the club.”
Similarly, the Environmental Club has helped students to take ownership in the outdoor learning opportunities on Chairville’s school grounds by providing a hands-on emphasis on environmental education. The club has also worked to contribute to projects that can be translated to the entire student body. Examples of these projects include the constructing of a habitat creation, the establishment of plant identification signs on permanent display, and making and posting trail blazes to mark local nature trails.
“I joined the environmental club because I wanted to help the local community and learn more about the environment,” Rebecca Wargo, a fifth grader at the Chairville School who was in attendance at the Board of Education meeting, said. “The cool part of the Environmental Club is that I don’t only benefit. All of Chairville gets to learn from the projects we do. I hope this helps our world and the environment. We only have one.”
Keagy emphasized to the board that there is still a need for more environmental education to improve environmental literacy and competency among Chairville students.
He suggested a number of potential actions be taken that include integrating environmental education into the interdisciplinary curriculum, the development of a stand-alone environmental education curriculum and an expansion of outdoor teaching spaces. He also wishes to see the school build its sustainability initiatives connected to student work, create no-cost, no-travel field trips on its own grounds and for it to advocate and prioritize time outdoors.
“This is a pretty unique club for an elementary school,” Joseph Del Rossi, the district’s superintendent, said. “Not only are there in-school activities, but it extends outside of the school, and Mr. Keagy is a true component of environmental education.”
