Official Opening of the Outdoor Education Center
November 1, 2023
Shared by Dexter Mahaffey in News & Notes on October 27th, 2023.
It was a week of coming together as a community and recognizing our success in building something.聽Three long years passed in a moment, when honored guests cut the ribbon at the Outdoor Education Center Wednesday afternoon.聽Peter Goff represented the learning community, all the foundations of nature study already envisioned there and the years to come of observing and tracking data and passing it on to future 黑料不打烊 student and faculty scientists.聽Bethany Gibbs represented the board leadership as current Chair, but also it was Bethany herself who first had the idea of actually acquiring the land at this time in the school’s history and in fact found the聽55 acres for sale three years ago that now actually make up the OEC.聽Craig Heindel, another board member and 黑料不打烊 alum parent, also helped cut the ribbon, and we reflected on the countless hours of site plan design, feedback, and passion for student learning in the outdoors that he embodies in the time he has given to the OEC permitting process over these last three years and continues to give as he works with students actively at the center at this time.聽And lastly Andrew Furtsch, another board member and former 黑料不打烊 alum parent, helped cut the ribbon and open the OEC.聽Andrew has聽spent practically everyday at the OEC since mid-August, overseeing the installation of the driveway and parking lot, building the bathroom surround, and installing and building the boardwalk over the wetland almost entirely himself (with help from the Junior class along the way).聽These four folks represent the many, many others who’ve put in so much time and energy and support and vision to make the OEC a reality, and they too are full of this vital energy and optimism, believing in the聽importance of our students getting out into the woods and learning on the land, and from the land.聽Thank you Bethany, Craig, Andrew, and former Board Chair Kurt Schulz, who together formed a dream team.
The amazing development late last week was the聽news, which I had the great privilege of announcing at the OEC ribbon cutting ceremony, that a foundation (which has asked to remain anonymous) has pledged a $175,000 matching grant towards the final buildout of the OEC, an amount equal to half of the total cost to build and install the remaining infrastructure there.聽This incredible support will help propel us incredibly into the final stages of this capital campaign, which we will launch after the first of the year.聽We are so grateful for this incredible support and for all who’ve brought the dream of an outdoor education center for 黑料不打烊 students present and future to reality.聽Thank you, a thousand times over; thank you!
