Nature’s classroom
Tom Moore notices a difference when kids step into nature’s classroom. The West Valley educator staked a career move on his belief that children respond to the natural world, often with rekindled curiosity. Moore became a force behind launching the 3.5-acre West Valley Outdoor Learning Center four years ago.
Former West Valley school superintendent Dave Smith encouraged Moore’s dream to put wetlands, trees and critters within arm’s reach of students. Today, an average two visits a year to the site near Pasadena Park Elementary are part of the K-5 science curriculum for district children. Middle and high school students as well as teachers regularly use the site for projects.
“I talked to (Smith) about how I thought kids learn best when they’re in a hands-on environment,” Moore said. Previously a Centennial Middle School vice principal and Ness Elementary principal, he became the center’s director in 2001.
For his outdoor center work, Moore, 46, this summer received the state’s highest environmental honor, the Department of Ecology Environmental Excellence Award. It recognized his role in establishing a place where students can study mule deer, build barn-owl nesting boxes, raise trout and study stream bugs.
This fall, Moore took on an additional role as West Valley City School principal. The school for grades five to eight offers a nontraditional, hands-on learning program, including CityEscape for role-playing careers.
“One thing I’ve missed is the day-to-day interaction with kids, so I’m looking forward to watching the students change and grow,” Moore said.
Moore described being a good fit for City School because of his experiences through the outdoor center and seeing how nontraditional approaches grab students’ attention.
“I made observations in formal classrooms. What I saw happening between fourth and eighth grade are kids – not every kid, but many children – somehow lose their passion for learning. They just don’t seem as curious and eager to participate in the learning experience.
“My experience has shown me that if we put (students) in a natural environment, what they are intuitively used to, that curiosity came to life again.”
The outdoor center has three buildings, two trout ponds, recirculating streams and an interpretive trail. Several volunteers including those with the Big Horn Foundation helped build the center.
One building on site is for the Court-Appointed Special Advocates program with a “Bee Kind” garden to help abused children.
Two rehabilitated owls that can’t return to the wild are in another building – a Western screech and a Northern Saw-whet. “I call them educational ambassadors,” Moore said. “They really open the door to conversations about the environment and man’s interaction with wildlife.”
He advocates incorporating environmental studies with other curriculum – math, reading and writing. The center also explores regional issues and local industry such as mining and forestry while striving to balance perspectives: government, industries, hunting and fishing, and appreciation of the natural world.
“Hunting and fishing and use of our natural resources in some environmental education centers are not talked about,” Moore said. “Sportsmen for years, if they’re ethical, have been some of the most staunch environmentalists. Hunting and fishing have been an important tradition in our country.”
When students begin understanding complex ideas cognitively in fourth and fifth grades, the center’s educators begin presenting some issues and the science, Moore said.
“We have to understand our resources. We try to teach kids about natural systems, how they operate and man’s potential and real impact on them.”
Moore’s involvement in environmental education harkens back to college. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, with degrees in biology and natural resource management. He also did a semester internship at an environmental education center.
He worked a few years for the Idaho Fish and Game Department and Idaho State Parks, before spending seven years as a biology teacher at Coeur d’Alene High School.
“I thought how cool it would be to open an environmental education center with a water ecosystem in this area. It was always a dream to be a part of building one.”
He was hired by West Valley School District in 1990. Not long after, he shared his dream with his boss, Smith, who encouraged him to look into options.
Moore supported curriculum on site, trained staff and professional development to help teachers include outdoor learning.
“If you’re incorporating the physical world and kids are engaged and participating actively in the living world, how do we support that and allow schools to be a part of that?” Moore said. “Dave Smith said, ‘Why don’t you do this in West Valley?’ “
Moore created a proposal for the center, sought grants and forged relationships with state and federal agencies as well as outdoor recreation groups. Opening the center became a partnership among the school district, state Fish and Wildlife, CASA, the Big Horn Foundation and the Inland Northwest Wildlife Council.
With start-up funding that included $100,000 from the district and $87,800 from the state’s Aquatic Land Enhancement Account funds, Moore worked with volunteers to create a microcosm of Eastern Washington’s ecosystem.
Within the past two years, the center has opened up to neighboring school districts.
Moore said he is looking forward to his new role with City School and probably will connect students with state outdoor research projects. Meanwhile, his oversight of the center will remain close at hand.
“I’m going to continue being intimately involved,” Moore said.
Smith, now WVSD projects manager, credited Moore for his vision and action.
“Without Tom Moore’s vision, that center would not be there. It’s amazing the amount of energy he has to provide kids with alternative opportunities to learn.”