‘Science is everywhere’: Spokane Public Schools hosts experiential learning field trip at Manito Park
Swarms of excited elementary schoolers pranced around the manicured lawns of Manito Park this week.
Pencils and observation journals in hand, with chaperones following closely behind them, they embarked on a new Spokane Public Schools initiative promoting hands-on scientific exploration.
About 1,400 students from seven schools flocked to the park Wednesday and Thursday.
It is one aspect of a new strategy from the school district created to cultivate greater experiential learning opportunities, executive director of academic services Stephanie Kerwien said.
The result was a multigenerational amalgamation of students, parents and educators, all united by a passion for science education.
Six stations scattered throughout the park explored science, engineering and art through hands-on activities. These included drawing plants at the Joel E. Ferris Perennial Garden, identifying the material properties of the park’s Washington monument and testing the pH of water from Mirror Pond.
The field trip is a replica of an earlier Professional Learning Improvement Day session in which elementary science specialists explored the park and brainstormed learning activities for students.
Kelly Kielian, an elementary school science coordinator at Spokane Public Schools who attended the session, said the trip addressed required units and standards around Earth science, physical science, life sciences and engineering.
“We also brought in the arts, because at our Japanese garden they’re going to be doing scientific observations with their favorite koi fish,” Kielian said.
“And then that’s a classroom extension where they get to go back to their classroom and create a tissue paper koi fish.”
Along with the elementary-aged students, members of the National Honor Society at Lewis and Clark High School volunteered at each station.
The mix of ages was intentional, highlighting the school system’s southwest feeder pattern.
Molly Parker, a chaperone who attended the trip with her son Jeffrey’s second-grade class, emphasized the importance of interactive learning.
“It builds the community closer together, and they can see the high school students engage in science in the outdoors,” Parker said.
The Manito Park field trip initiative is just one piece of a districtwide strategy called EngageIRL. The program kicked off at the start of the school year to promote participation in after-school programs, as well as increase experiential learning opportunities for students.
“A lot of this work began with, how do we remove barriers for educators in thinking differently about field trips? I know through my experience both as a student and as an educator, field trips were kind of decided for me,” Kerwien said in a school board meeting Wednesday. “What would it look like to empower teachers to feel ownership over being able to say, ‘You know what, in two weeks, we’re gonna go to a park?’ ”
The excursions are not just limited to public parks.
This month, first-graders from Frances Scott Elementary School and Whitman Elementary School met theater employees and received behind-the-scenes tours of the First Interstate Center of the Arts and the Arena. There, students learned the art of a quick change and stage designing from the local International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.
Presley Barkstrom, a sophomore at LC who attended Wednesday’s event, was stationed by the pond, helping kids fill cups with pond water and measure their levels with a pH stick. The elementary schoolers have a lot more energy than high school students, which makes teaching them fun, she said.
“You’ll encounter (science) all throughout your life,” Barkstrom said. “Science isn’t just taught in a classroom, it’s all outside. And so teaching them that science is everywhere, even in a pond, that’s really exciting for them to learn.”