Minnesota kids love outdoor learning. Lawmakers are paying attention
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“Red squirrel tracks! And poop!”
It’s a discovery that easily gets a band of fifth graders running at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center. On a recent sunny winter afternoon in Minnesota’s North Woods near Lake Superior, hundreds of students swarmed the center’s 2,000-acre grounds seeking similar treasures.
When a Prior Lake kid found tracks and scat on his class hike, he couldn’t help but call out to his classmates, who came running and then needed to know more, setting off a cascade of questions that instructor Nellie Goepel was happy to answer.
Those moments are golden to Goepel and other advocates of outdoor learning in Minnesota. It’s an excitement to learn that can be hard to recreate in an ordinary classroom. Thousands of kids each year come to Wolf Ridge and the state’s four other outdoor learning centers.
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State lawmakers are interested in doing more and a bill is likely this session. Behind it sits a core belief that Minnesotans are uniquely rooted to the state’s landscape and that getting kids outdoors kindles the desire to learn.
“Getting children outdoors, the outdoor ethic of the people of Minnesota, our outdoor Heritage — the concern for that being lost in future generations is not a partisan issue,” said Wolf Ridge director Pete Smerud. “No matter who you are, no matter what corner of Minnesota you came from, people saw the value and the importance to get my child get our children back outdoors.”
‘Things you would never learn in school’
Discovery plays a big role in visits to Wolf Ridge. Schools and families that bring students north for a weeklong exploration say kids come away excited about what they’ve learned.
Currently, only about 30 percent of Minnesota students are able to participate in outdoor school. Much of the funding comes from families and schools raising money on their own. Prior Lake had to raise $500 per kid for a week at Wolf Ridge. That can be a steep price for families in less affluent areas.
Last year, state Rep. Kristi Pursell, DFL-Northfield, sponsored a bill that would pilot a grant program through the state Department of Natural Resources with funds targeted to outdoor learning. Interested K-12 districts could apply for a chance to spend time at one of Minnesota’s five accredited outdoor schools.
Dozens of lawmakers from both parties have expressed interest in the idea.
“We want to try to just increase that access to the outdoors, especially for the economically disadvantaged schools and communities,” Pursell told MPR News.
“In Minnesota, our Constitution protects hunting and fishing as part of what it means to be Minnesotan” but younger generations are “literally getting no exposure to that,” she said. “I think that is why this is really resonating with my colleagues, regardless of your political affiliation.”
State Sen. Jeremy Miller, R-Winona, has a similar bill. “Getting kids outside matters more than ever, yet crowded school days often make it difficult for students to enjoy the outdoors,” Miller said in a statement. More outdoor learning opportunities would “help students connect with nature and build confidence through challenges that will stick with them their whole lives.”
Sandy Timmerman, coordinator of Prior Lake’s Environmental Learning Center and a Wolf Ridge board member, believes the time and money are worth it.
“The bond that these students get with nature, with their peers, with the outdoors is so meaningful to hear them out in the woods having fun,” she said. “They don't have this kind of land to roam around with unless they have property somewhere for them to be in — an area that they can hike in the woods safely.”
Smerud said he sees it as an education and mental health priority, “an act of social-emotional, academic, coming-of-age transformation, values clarification.”
For 11-year-old Geno Conlon from Prior Lake, it’s not that complicated. It’s just good. The week at Wolf Ridge included a lesson in nature-based art, rock climbing, and — especially memorable — keeping his room clean.
He’s missed seeing his parents, but has enjoyed learning to be more independent.
“You get to have a blast, have fun. You get to take care of yourself. And then you also get to learn so many things that you would never ever learn in school,” Conlon said. “Everybody should get the chance to come up here.”
