Five school-age children are hopping across tree stumps and thick branches as part of an obstacle course — but it’s not a phys ed class. Another group of children have built a teeter-totter out of a wide board and a log — but it’s not recess. They’re all wearing running shoes, their jeans mud-streaked and hair […]
Lessons outside and recess in the rain, outdoor schools help kids’ physical literacy
February 2, 2017
Aboriginal Education Research Forum 2015
July 2, 2015
Aboriginal Education Research Forum 2015 Winnipeg, Manitoba May 19 and 20, 2015 Learning to Indigenize: Kwantlen First Nation and the Maple Ridge Environmental School Project ( es.sd42.ca ) Imagine “schooling” without walls, a “community of learners” who participate in a variety of settings and activities, engage in hands-on, real lived experiences. The land, its histories […]
Transformation Through Drum Building
July 2, 2015
Drums are an instrument that are used daily at the Environmental School and the students therefore already have a strong connection and relationship with them. Having them build their own drums was the next step in creating a deeper more meaningful, personal connection. This paper will document the full circle of learning that takes place […]
Film explores Ridge environmental school
April 14, 2014
The father of an environmental school student has made a two-hour documentary about the unique choice school in Maple Ridge. Found in the Forest was shown to the public for the first time on April 2 at The ACT, for an invitation-only audience that was largely made up of local educators.
Outside Days
April 8, 2014
Every day is an outside day for the Kindergarten to Grade 7 students at Maple Ridge’s Environmental School Project (ESP). That’s because there is no school building. However, throughout the winter, there is a 5,157-hectare forest to study and explore. Five years ago, then Vice-Principal Clayton Maitland and teacher- librarian Jodi MacQuarrie, were imagining what […]
