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COLUMBIA, Missouri (KMIZ)
A $ 4.5 million learning outdoors project celebrates the completion of its first phase.
The Boone County Nature School will ultimately be used by all six Boone County school districts, including Columbia Public Schools, which is partnering with the Missouri Department of Conservation to lead the project.
Former CPS superintendent Peter Stiepleman has championed the school as an ambassador for the Missouri Department of Conservation and chairman of the Boone County Nature School fundraising campaign. It is also donated $ 25,000 to the project.
Stiepleman will join ABC 17 News This Morning on Thursday to discuss the project. Watch the 6am and 6.30am live interviews here.
Located in the Waters-Russell unit of the Three Streams Conservation Area, near the Columbia Regional Airport, the first phase of the project consisted of development work on the school campus.
The area includes hiking trails, fishing ponds, serviced camping areas, revitalized natural meadows and public washrooms. A pavilion for students to gather is also under construction, although construction is not yet complete.
To celebrate the transition to Phase Two, Boone County Nature School is hosting an invitation-only ribbon cutting Thursday at 5 p.m.
During this phase, teams will construct an 8,000 square foot building to house four classrooms for Boone County Nature School. It will also house a wet lab, kitchen, and lobby with information about Missouri conservation leaders.
The project began in 2013. Former CPA Board Chairman Jan Mees first came up with the idea after visiting Springfield’s WOLF School, which offers similar outdoor learning activities on a much smaller scale.
While WOLF School says it enrolls around 46 fifth-graders, Boone County Nature School is said to reach 20,000 students each year, including:
- 2,200 fifth-year students visiting for a full week’s immersion.
- 1,500 college students for one night camping each year.
- 16,000 pupils of all school levels visiting for school outings.
- 2,000 summer school students from all over Missouri.
- Other community members and families visiting the Columbia Parks and Recreation Department.
CPS and the State Department of Conservation are the main partners in the project, committing $ 2 million and $ 1 million respectively. When completed, an MDC educator, a farm-to-school coordinator for the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture, and CPC employees will look after the building.
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