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When the New School, a high school located in downtown Atlanta, was planning its camping trip to south Georgia’s Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, it recognized how impactful a visit to such a wild place could be for the young people who had never seen a night sky so full of stars or witnessed alligators sunning themselves on swampy banks. And the students’ education didn’t begin when they stepped off the bus. They had done their homework. Not only had they studied the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) but Refuge Manager Michael Lusk and Folkston community leader Antwon Nixon had visited the school.
Monique Nunnally, Director of Community Engaged Learning at the New School, explained how they built into their curriculum opportunities for lessons outside the classroom at each high school grade level. “We take their education off of the paper and bring their learning experience to life,” she said. What began as lessons in Austin Russell’s Environmental Science class, learning about this blackwater swamp hours away from the city of Atlanta, culminated in a three-day camping trip to Stephen C. Foster State Park, which lies within the Okefenokee NWR, in February of this year.
Lead by Co-Founder and Head of School, Peter Lefkowicz, the teachers and students of the New School gathered at 5:00 a.m. on a cold February morning to make the five-hour drive south to the border of Georgia and Florida, a first for many in the group…visiting the largest blackwater swamp in North America, the Okefenokee Swamp! From art and drawing, interviewing community members, astronomy and canoeing and hiking, the students could decide how to spend their day learning. The faculty who planned the trip made sure the educational opportunities were interdisciplinary and allowed students to feel comfortable in an outdoor learning environment.
“Even though some of the students said they were not ‘outdoorsy people’, that is only because they have not had the opportunity before,” said Antwon Nixon. “I had not even been in a canoe on the swamp until last year. But now I see we need to shine light on this special place and make sure that the Okefenokee Swamp is recognized the way Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon are.”
“We were proud to host the students and teachers of the New School at one of the most remote spots in the state of Georgia. It goes to show that you don’t have to be an ‘urban Refuge’ to reach out to folks in an urban environment. We hope that we can continue to maintain a working relationship with the New School into the future.” says Refuge Manager Michael Lusk.
Having these experiences allowed many students to learn new things and to build an appreciation for naturally wild landscapes. Students Zain Khemani, Ella Lefkowicz, Harper Rollins, and others all said they had never thought about a swamp as being such a beautiful place. Ella spoke of the value of the Okefenokee as a gathering place for family and friends, a place to enjoy nature and the peace it brings. Nature’s classroom has so much to teach us all.
With the entire school’s student body on the field trip, there were countless opportunities for not only the students to learn about the Okefenokee, but for the teachers as well. Andre Simon, a physics, math, and physical education teacher, said he was from New York City and had never heard of the Okefenokee until a couple months before the trip. He said he was unsure about paddling in the swamp with alligators around him. After seeing his smiling face while canoeing in Billys Lake, you could tell he had left his fears at the shoreline and was thoroughly enjoying being amongst the alligators and witnessing the swamp in all its glory. He later said he was excited to return with his son. But he was also excited to get back into cell phone coverage so he could call his mom in New York and tell her about his adventure.
Beginning with a visit to a classroom in downtown Atlanta, and ending with an appreciation for nature, the students became stewards of our lands deep in the heart of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
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