Anglophone West – Nackawic Elementary School Gets an Outdoor Classroom Upgrade

Earlier this year, students from Nackawic Elementary School had an exciting opportunity to revamp their school’s outdoor classroom through the Climate Action Grant provided by the

Department of Early Childhood and Education. With this grant, the school was able to create an outdoor classroom space with all new furniture and accessories made by the students in the Essential Skills Achievement Pathway program.

In addition to the new outdoor classroom furniture, students had help from New Brunswick-based regenerative living solution and design company, Oasis Farmery, to create and build a food forest, an ecosystem designed to grow diverse food crops while maintaining its own needs. With the help of the team from Oasis Farmery, students in grades 4 and 5 and grades 9-12 planted the food forest, including raspberries, black currants, haskap, pollinators, pear trees, plum trees, apple trees, and vegetables.

For teachers, the food forest will be used in the coming year to teach and encourage sustainable living and cross-curricular skills to students. The project incorporated students from kindergarten to grade 12 with all ages able to collaborate, create, and plan while safely hitting multiple curricular goals and having fun.

Oasis Farmery enjoyed watching students discover their independence through digging, planting, and mentoring their peers throughout the day. The Anglophone West School District (Experiential Learning) was excited to work with Oasis Farmery on this project. The experience showed the students that learning could happen in many fun ways!

For more information on experiential learning opportunities in New Brunswick, check out https://nbed.sharepoint.com/sites/ASD-WExperientialLearning658.  Interested employers and students can check out more success stories at https://futurenewbrunswick.ca/.