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Park�s a natural class photo by Drew Fleming Popular courses give students hands-on study By John Darling ASHLAND � They may fill their heads with facts about nature in their classrooms, but when elementary schoolchildren traipse to North Mountain Park, they not only get to see it, but play a hands-on role in its wonders. Ashland�s newest city park offers two-hour classes in mornings and afternoons all spring and fall with names like "Migration Mysteries," "Plants and People" and "Art in Nature." The fun, highly participatory classes are so popular with teachers that all 35 fall adventures filled up within an hour of being posted, said park nature interpreter Paige Prewett. "It�s the opportunity for kids to get out from behind their desks and get creative. It�s nice to see them blossom outside," she said. In "Art and Nature," kids study pictures by noted environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy, then, guided by their own sense of shape, color and texture, set out to arrange leaves, sticks and stones into aesthetic statements. Their creations quickly disintegrate, but park staffers help memories last by taking pictures and sending them to classrooms. Kids learn about bird migration by rounding up red and white balls signifying the water and food birds need to store for winter. With clay, rice, lentils and wood chips, Walker first-graders recently made "habitat shelters" and left them in the butterfly garden for local creatures to use as they will, said Prewett. They ground up acorn flour and tasted biscuits made from it. They made little ducks from cattails and floated them on the creek. "All this connects the kids in a special way to the local environment, feeds their imagination about what�s out here and experience it in a real, three-dimensional way," said parent and park volunteer Lynn Reynolds. "It�s real empowering for the kids to learn skills about making things with their hands and being creative in the wilderness," said Walker School parent Bruce Harlow. "They get a real chance to view the world from a larger scope," said volunteer Madeline Rose. "It�s amazing how savvy they are about the environment and nature." At North Mountain Park, opportunities for learning and creativity reach beyond elementary schools. The city invited Southern Oregon University to create the curriculum, so SOU handed the project to future teachers of art and environmental science. "Three students in master�s degree programs got to create this," said Prewett. "Instead of writing a paper about it, they got to see it come to life and to help train park staff and volunteers who would teach it." In the middle of a recent environmental art project, the kids dropped everything and pointed at three red-tailed hawks circling about 50 feet overhead. Prewett observed, "You can study about the red-tailed hawk all you want, but then when you�re out here in their environment and you see three of them circling you, that�s something you remember all your life." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.