State education officials today unveiled an outdoor learning space they say will make environmental education more accessible for schools across Maine.
They say the Maine Outdoor Learning Pavilion on Mackworth Island in Falmouth is the latest addition to the Mill's administration's Outdoor Learning Initiative which is billed as a response to pandemic-related learning loss.
George Horrigan, a seventh grader at Scarborough Middle School, said he learned a lot from learning outdoors last spring.
"Before last year, I thought that learning was meant for classrooms," Horrigan said. "I was proved wrong. I realized how being outside can teach us so much, from hands on learning to real life scenarios.
Maine Department of Education Commissioner Pender Makin spoke to the benefits of outdoor education.
"It builds character," Makin said. "It builds relevance. For learning, it is good for the physical, social, emotional, academic and engagement aspects of education."
The new space offers Wi-Fi, an indoor area with bathrooms, free parking, portable projectors, and screens, and can be reserved by schools through the Department of Education.
