Jamaica Plain's Mendell School Inaugurates Outdoor Classroom

Reading, writing, math and science got a little greener Wednesday morning when officially inaugurated their new outdoor classroom  which they've been emjoying all year.

Students like Wilson Sanon and Shawn Robertson, both in the fourth grade, led guests around with instructions like, “These are beautiful plants, be careful.” and “You have to stay on the path.”

Shawn said he likes the gardening, while Wilson is happy that, “we could do everything here! Thinking, watching, writing stuff down. And it looks so pretty.”

Although the classroom – one of several being established in Boston through the Boston Schoolyard Initiative – has been in use all year by the nearly 200 students in grades K1 through fifth, this official ribbon-cutting ceremony was a time to recognize and thank those that helped get the classroom built.

Principal Julia Bott kicked off the event by welcoming the students, parents and community members gathered in front of the school. “Hi Mrs. Bott!” the students enthusiastically responded as one, sitting in waves of semicircles before the podium. Bott then introduced Mayor Thomas Menino.

Menino had high praise for Mendell. “When you have a school that can run a successful seed drive instead of a candy drive, you have a lot going for you,” he said, adding, “To the youngsters: This is your playground, so take care of it!”

Superintendent Carol Johnson also spoke, this time addressing the parents. “I can’t say enough about how actively the parents have been involved in having a voice in this school community, and that makes all the difference in the world,” she said. 

The classroom became a reality due to the hard work of the Outdoor Classroom Committee, a group of parents and faculty. Karen Pfefferle, one committee member and the mother of twins in K2, was responsible for getting local artist Matthew Hincman involved to design the bright blue-and-yellow iron fence stretching across the main entrance to the classroom.

Pfefferle, who had seen Hincman’s work through the Boston Art Commission, asked him and a few other local artists to give a presentation to the committee. Eventually Hincman’s design was chosen and the fence was built at MassArt, where Hincman is a professor.

“I was able to spend some time with the students here, playing, drawing, asking what they are interested in. I was also able to talk to the faculty and teachers to find out what’s important to them,” said Hincman of how he came up with the design. “I tried to incorporate playful elements, I wanted to make it very playful first of all; but also address issues of symmetry and asymmetry. There are some intentional mistakes in the pattern so when students are looking at it they can reflect upon what its right or wrong, symmetrical or asymmetrical.”

Inside the fence is a multipurpose space, with a rain-collecting drum and a compost pile, gardening space and meeting areas complete with tree stump stools.

The Mendell Outdoor Classroom is just one of over 70 schoolyards built by the Boston Schoolyard Initiative. Over 130 acres of asphalt have been transformed into outdoor learning spaces across the city.

Kathy McHugh also addressed the children on behalf of the Boston Schoolyard Funder’s Collaborative. “I know you’ve been using the schoolyard all year long and I hope you like it. Do you like it?” she asked. 

A resounding and lengthy “Yeah!” bounded back at her.

“It’s a beautiful place but it’s even more beautiful when you are in it, taking care of it, enjoying it and learning from it,” McHugh said. “The sky is the limit as you make this space your very own." 

To end the ceremony, student ambassadors gave out certificates to the various committee members, artists, legislators, parents and community members that were involved in the process. Then Menino joined them to cut the red ribbon, allowing guests to admire the outdoor classroom for themselves.

The student ambassadors gave tours and led scavenger hunts for the occasion, clearly taking pride in being chosen to show off their new classroom.

Bott is proud of how completely the space has been transformed, from being “basically am empty vacant lot that was attracting not-so-attractive things,” she said. “I think the community kind of respects it more now as a space for learning as opposed to a space for recreation outside of school hours.” 

Now, Bott explained, the space will be used for a cross-curricular learning area. “Elizabeth Ely is our science teacher, she has been using it all year long for observation, experiments, life cycles, water cycles, simple machines,” Bott said.

But she emphatically hopes that the classroom will not become stuck in science. “This is about a lot more than science. Going out here and thinking about the writing process and the revision process; thinking about the intersection between writing and the environment; reading curriculum; intersections with math, symmetry, simple machines. So there’s a lot of opportunities cross-curricular and we’re just starting to think about the possibilities.”