Ecology club has shifted gears to take on its annual project of transforming
the outdoor classroom from an over-grown jungle to a well manicured nature corner of FHN’s campus.

Both students and teachers have the opportunity to utilize the classroom in order to get up close and personal with nature.

FHN’s outdoor classroom is located at the top of the hill next to the locker room doors.

“[Its important to FHN] because it’s a different way of learning,” junior Amanda Dejarnett said. “You can see physically how tell how things are grown and how they develop. It’s more hands on.”

Every year weeds, brush, and overgrown trees overtake the clearing.

The normally accessible benches are swallowed up, the forest floor engulfed in tall grass, and poison ivy plants are scattered among everything.

Plans for the transformation include repainting the entrance sign, putting in a raised flowerbed, and spraying herbicide as an attempt to keep the weeds under control.

“Ecology club helps the environment,” sophomore Ashley Haywood said. “And [the classroom is] in the environment, so we should help clean it up.”

This year there are about 30 students involved with ecology club that are planning to make classroom accessible again. Once the project is complete, Club sponsor
and Environmental studies teacher Joseph Brocksmith will use the classroom during his lessons.

However, his classes are not the only ones able to utilize it.

“It’s open to anyone,” Brocksmith said. “It’d be nice to see more people using it, especially from an environmental teacher’s standpoint. If it were up to me we’d have class out there every day.”