Clear Spring School received a $1075.23 grant from the Ozark Society Foundation to build trails on campus. Our middle school class, (the Robins - 14 students), worked with three teachers Brittany Osborne, Aimee Tackett, and Alaina Davidson to design and construct an interpretive trail on campus. Alaina, helped the students to survey the land, design trail elements, and clear the trail itself. The students also designed trail signs that were printed using our glow-forge. These signs included pictures and descriptions of things along the trail (trees, animals, habitats). During the Arkansas Environmental Education Association conference June 6 & 7, the students led a group of visitors on their trail. The students also shared the` trails with their families during the Family Festival June 14th, this our culminating event of the school year where current and past families are invited to see what the students have been up to. The project took most of the winter and spring to complete. The project was a great success, and we will continue to develop the trail and improve upon its usage. In association with a grant from COX we also purchased materials to kit out the students with science investigations backpacks and they have been using those along the trails as well. We have several different kits, birding, creek critters, bugs, water and soil testing, and fossil exploration. The trail now connects our lower and upper campuses, creates a path to the Rainbow Garden, and creates a safer walking trail to the PrePrimary campus.
