By Anjali Kishore
Like many great ideas, it started during recess.
While at Eastern Middle School Dawson Clark, an Eagle Scout candidate from Old Greenwich, took notice of a run-down outdoor space while he was exploring during recess. When he inquired about the structure Mr. Kinner, the former Tech. Ed. teacher at Eastern, mentioned that it had once been an outdoor classroom space where teachers could hold their classes on nice days. It hadn’t been maintained well, however, and had fallen into disrepair. Over the years, Kinner had attempted to make it a project for his Tech class, as woodworking is a major component of the class’s curriculum. However, the funding never came through and by the time Clark entered Eastern Middle School, the space had been untouched and unused for decades.
The classroom stayed with him since his graduation from Eastern in 2017, and when it came time to begin his Eagle Scout project he immediately thought of the space as the perfect focal point. A week before the COVID lockdown, Clark went to visit the site to confirm what it was he’d need to do. It was then that he realized that rebuilding the classroom would be no small task. From the very first sketches to the actual pouring of concrete, he had to be involved in every step. This led to a lot of “figuring stuff out on the fly,” according to Clark. “Whether it was finding out what kind of permits I needed, ordering materials, or coordinating with volunteers to come and help, it was my responsibility. What made it even harder is that I, like most Eagle Scout Candidates, had very little experience in the field of my project — I had to reach out to many people whether it was my dad, adult leaders in my troop, to trained professionals for advice.”
But before Clark could do any of that, he had to deal with the setbacks that 2020 dealt. Community gatherings and organized group activities were shut down, limiting his ability to get going on the project. Through cooperation and coordination with the superintendent of schools, Dr. Toni Jones; Mr. Jason Goldstein, principal of Eastern Middle School; and First Selectman Fred Camillo, he was able to complete his project proposal by July 2020.
However, it wasn’t as simple as just getting through to Town Hall. Due to COVID Clark relocated to Indiana for the first semester of the 2020-21 school year and wasn’t able to actually start the project until the spring of this year, placing a strain on the time-sensitive project. That said, COVID did have some unprecedented perks: in the time he was in Indiana, Greenwich’s Parks and Recreation division had begun to clear out the old, demolished wood from the classroom space, which would have been part of Clark’s responsibilities. Luckily, town workers kept the concrete foundation intact, saving him significant amounts of time and money.
With the logistics in place, the hard part actually began. Unsurprisingly, not everything went quite to plan. A major struggle was the actual design of the space. “Since the old outdoor classroom was built so long ago I was unable to find anyone who knew even the slightest thing about it. I couldn’t find any pictures or anyone who was there when it was built,” Clark explained, “So there were some quirks in the old design that we had to improvise around, and we ended up making some changes from the original plan.” Despite the frustration of having to change course, this improvisational spirit reflects what Clark loves about Scouting itself: “The Boy Scout Motto is ‘Be Prepared’, but in my best memories, we weren’t prepared. Whether it is having to eat soggy sandwiches on the side of the river in the cold, pouring rain; having to race through a zipline course because we all forgot to use the bathroom beforehand; or getting your tent stuck in a tree, something ends up happening and in the heat of the moment. We reassure and encourage each other, and we adapt to find a solution.”
The new outdoor classroom epitomizes this idea of creating the best out of a bad situation. We’ve all come to appreciate outdoor spaces more in the last year, where we could experience others without the limitations of face masks. Using lessons from the past, from the pandemic, and from the former structure, the outdoor classroom is helping Eastern Middle School look towards the future in a big way. Though the method was initially adopted out of necessity, many experts say outdoor learning is here to stay, especially for younger children. Studies show that outdoor learning increases not only children’s behavior in school and attendance records, but also their overall physical, emotional, and mental health and development.
As for Clark, a rising senior at Greenwich High School, the next step is clear: getting his badge. “Once I have achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, I’ll feel very blessed that my community believes that I have fulfilled my duty to God and my country, and best represented the twelve points of the Scout Law to the best of my ability,” says Clark. “A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.” But much building the outdoor classroom, the final accomplishment of an Eagle Scout badge is only so rewarding because of the journey it took to get there. “When I look back on my Scouting experience so far, all my memories are filled with laughter. The experiences I’ve had in Scouting, I wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else.”
