Many hands have gone into making the outdoors an added dimension to the learning experience at Durham Community School.

Just before she headed for her freshman year at Shenandoah University in Virginia late last month, Kaitlin Johnson completed her Girl Scouts Gold Project ­– an outdoor learning area and playground for the younger students she called the “Outdoor Classroom & Learning Lab.” During a recent weekend, physical education and wellness teacher Nick Lyons built an amphitheater where the students can sit and observe on a hillside overlooking Johnson’s creation.

Outdoor learning at Durham Community School involves older students, as well. There is a ropes course, donated a few years back by L.L. Bean, for team-building and problem-solving exercises. There is an area for disc golf. On the so-called “Tiger Trail,” students look for natural elements that can help them in science classes. Science students, art students and writing classes all go to the Tiger Trail to gather resources.

Outside science classes make learning “more engaging for students, and hopefully makes them able to put things into a more authentic perspective,”said Principal Will Pidden.

The day prior to the beginning of school, on Aug. 25, teachers studied aspects of the outdoor learning offerings at the school.

“We wanted all teachers to be aware of the resources we had outside,” Pidden said. “On the Tiger Trail, students went out looking for evidence of surface changes. The theme of it is outdoor learning opportunities as part of their school day, or school experience.”

Science classes use the Tiger Trail the most.

“They go out and make observations of sunlight and shadows, life cycles and erosion,” Pidden said. “Phys ed uses disc golf all the time. And guidance uses disc golf, too, for team-building.”

The purpose of outdoor learning, Pidden said, is engagement.

“Anytime kids are engaged in school,” he said, “they are more receptive to learning. Getting up and moving around outdoors is a far more natural learning experience than sitting behind a desk.”

The seating area built by Lyons is on the side of a hill overlooking the Outdoor Classroom & Learning Lab, which features a climbing structure, a knot-tying station, benches and a rope ladder. Lyons secured four logs into the ground and nailed on planks to make seats.

“It’s an alternative learning space for kids,” Lyons said. “Any classes can use it. There could be a teacher up front teaching, or students performing. This is our outdoor school, so to speak. This isn’t just another recess space. This is learning while doing.”

The amphitheater can fit all 23 students in Lyons’ class.

“It looks like a stage with trees framing it,” he said. “Parents cleared out the space below three or four years ago, then Kaitlin did her Girl Scouts project.”

Nick Lyons, physical education and wellness teacher at Durham Community School, stands outside the school’s Outdoor Classroom & Learning Lab, where he spends as much time as he can with students.Staff photo by Larry Grard