'The outdoors is our classroom': Blended online, outdoor school launches in Bow Valley
'If it's snowing, you wear snowpants; if it's raining, you wear a raincoat'
For a few hours each school day morning, the students of Third Academy's new Lynx program take online classes in English language arts and mathematics.
Their afternoons, however, are spent among the trees, bees and mountains of Alberta's Bow Valley as they explore subjects including science, social studies, and physical education through cross-curricular projects and activities.
The Lynx program is new this year, and started, in part, as a response to the uncertainty COVID-19 has brought to traditional schooling.
"It's difficult for so many families to find the right balance between having their kids be educated and also ensure their safety," said Sunil Mattu, executive director of Third Academy. "So why not be outdoors if you can still do it? No classroom, no desks, no whiteboard. The outdoors is our classroom. "
Families living in the Bow Valley expressed a desire to open the program this summer, and Third Academy, an accredited provider under Alberta Education, helped make it a reality.
The debut Lynx class is made up of seven students from Grades 6 to 8 and is run by a certified teacher, Melanie Guest, who led the charge to get the program up and running.
"I've been wanting to do it for a while, but with COVID, it seemed like a really good time," she said. "Students are online in the morning for two hours doing English and math, and then they come out with me in the afternoons from 12 until 3:30 and we do social and science and phys-ed and health and just learning to be in the community."
Much of the program is about experiences, which means they have lots of hikes, trips and activities built into their school year.
"We are our own cohort, so that's really nice that we can travel easily just as a group. So later this week, we're going out to Lake Louise. After that, we have a bunch of trips coming up," she said.
"One is possibly down Highway 93 to check out the forest burns and the rejuvenation of [those areas] over one year and 20 years to look at succession and ecology. And then we have a camping trip where we're going to be checking out animals and go for an early morning animal watch, and we'll see what we can find."
On the day CBC News visited the outdoor classroom, the group was gathered near the Canmore Pond, talking about the main systems of the human body.
After their discussion, instead of pulling out work sheets or textbooks, the students played a game where two teams each had to build a pathway for water down a hill into the pond by each taking on different roles associated with the body's system.
Grade 8 student Olivia Martland said she's able to retain a lot more information by doing these types of blended activities outside.
It's so nice to just want to be able to go to school every day and it's not like a chore.- Olivia Martland, student
"Last year, when I had to switch to regular school, I didn't like being on computers all the time and I wasn't learning as much because I just don't learn from people telling me what it is and then I'm supposed to remember that," she said. "I've only been here for a week, but I feel like I've learned so much already just because it's way more engaging."
And she said the small class size means not only are they close-knit, but their teacher also has time for each of them individually.
"We're just all working together, and I feel like in a bigger classroom, you also don't get as much attention from the teacher," she said.
"But if it's just like seven of us, then it's more like one on one and you make sure that you actually understand. It's so nice to just want to be able to go to school every day and it's not like a chore. You have to do what you want to do because it's really fun."
Alloya Guest, Melanie's daughter, is one of the seven students. She said one of her favourite parts about doing the majority of her school day outside is being able to also learn about nature.
"So instead of learning about the water inside a classroom at your desk this year, we have a field trip plan to go out and go through the Bow River and take samples of water so we get to learn through doing," she said. "I find it sticks in my brain more than it did."
Tara Martinson's daughter Elise is a member of the inaugural Lynx class. She said Elise previously participated in a program in Canmore that went to Grade 6 and blended distance learning and outdoor school. But last year she started her first year of "regular school."
"We found the experience through the spring — which was, of course, last-minute schooling online — wasn't ideal for her. We wanted to make sure she wasn't on a device or a computer all day," she said. "We were just really hopeful and thrilled that this became an opportunity and an option."
The mother said the program has been working wonders on more than just the eduction of its students.
We wanted to make sure she wasn't on a device or a computer all day.- Tara Martinson, parent
"When she leaves for school and when I pick her up, the difference in her energy level and her temperament, it's night and day, so we're really thrilled about that," she said.
"Our world has a lot of device time and we don't want her to be completely removed from the world right now. But to swing the other extreme with the extra push of wearing a mask and the other obligations of being in a public facility right now, it just wasn't a good fit for us."
By pure coincidence, the Lynx class is made up of all female students this year, and when winter eventually rolls into the Bow Valley, the girls say they'll be ready.
"If it's snowing, you wear snowpants; if it's raining, you wear a raincoat," said Martland. "You just get used to it after awhile and it's kind of just more fun."
Guest said the girls' toughness blows any stereotypes out of the water.
"These girls are hardcore. They're here wind, rain and snow," she said. "They're committed to be here and ready and have fun."
While the Lynx program is small by intention to start, from here Mattu sees great opportunity.
"There always has been conversation in the Bow Valley about having an outdoor education kind of focused school," he said. "Maybe this is the seed that will turn into something five years down the road."
Guest said she wants parents to know their students can flourish in a program like this one.
"It's not just a special group of kids. Children adapt to whatever situation they're in," she said. "But this particular situation allows them a lot more reflection time and to really experience life and how they fit into the world around them."
The program is funded primarily through Alberta Education, but parents also pay $2,000 a year in tuition.
"We set a tuition framework that almost every family could afford. And if they cannot, because of course times are tough right now, there's a bursary program," he said.
"Really, there's no reason for any family not to be able to access the program of choice like this. All we have to do is be good enough for them, and parents have to be sure we're delivering a program that meets the needs of their kids."
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