Kingston’s ‘Beyond Classrooms’ heads outdoors for first time

Learning outside of the classroom — that’s the whole idea behind the “Beyond Classrooms” initiative.

This week, the classroom is actually outside and that’s a first, at least for this program. Grade 6 students from Ecole Publique Madeleine-de-Roybon are at the Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area. Teacher Khadija Hmoundou says the students are enjoying the experience.

“My goal is to raise awareness about our environment and our bio-diversity. The first thing to do is learn more about it so we’re going to be able to protect it after that.”

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The “Beyond Classrooms” program is more than a day trip, it’s a whole week outside of the traditional classroom setting. Usually, it’s held inside places like Kingston City Hall or the Agnes Etherington Art Centre at Queen’s University. Now, at least this week, it’s all about getting outside. Program co-ordinator Karla Tynski says this marks the first time that they’ve ventured outdoors.

“The biggest challenge I guess is the weather, it’s a little unpredictable especially at this time of year. We were going to come two weeks ago and then we had that ice storm and had to reschedule.”

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Next-up for Beyond Classrooms is a trip to Napanee.