Boone County Nature School Celebrates its First Year

With the Boone County Nature School concluding its first year, student reactions are positive.

“I think it’s unique,” said Eleanor Stensby, an 11-year-old fifth-grader at Beulah Ralph Elementary School said during her class’s St Patrick’s Day visit to the nature school.

“It’s a great opportunity to get involved in nature,” Eleanor said. “The teachers are really nice here.”

During a fall visit, the students went fishing and looked for frogs, which was great fun, she explained. This time, she was looking forward to a treasure hike.

“It’s really fun,” Eleanor added. “I like it here.”

Another fan was Avery Ratliff, 11.

“The teachers are phenomenal,” Avery said. “Love ‘em.”

He wasn’t finished with the effusive praise.

“I love this place,” he continued. “It teaches you to care for nature and endangered species so we can be aware of what’s happening.”

Students learned about the monarch butterflies, their migration patterns, and the environmental and other threats they face, he said.

They also tasted maple syrup, harvested from the sugar maple trees on site.

“It was so good,” Avery said. “It’s better than anything.”

The grand opening of the Boone County Nature School occurred on August 23, 2024, after years of planning and some false starts. It’s a partnership between Columbia Public Schools, the Missouri Department of Conservation, and other Boone County school districts.

The 111 acres on which the nature school sits were donated by Vicki Russell and the late Hank Waters, former publisher of the Columbia Daily Tribune.

The school is inside an 8,230 square-foot building. There’s also a council house, weather station, and astronomical observatory.

The construction cost was $7 million.

The observatory dome was donated by a donor on behalf of the Central Missouri Astronomical Association. The nature school consortium provided the concrete foundation and the electricity for the dome, said Val Germann, with the association.

“Having a facility out of town, we can show galaxies and we can show things that aren’t visible here in town,” Germann noted.

The observatory has operated since November. The club will ramp up public events in the next school year, Germann remarked.

“It’s first class,” Germann said. “It’s a great thing.” The club has events both for students and the public.

“We will have all the planets back next fall,” Germann said.

The plan is to be able to stream images from the nature school observatory directly to schools.

In the council house, a presentation included acknowledgment of the Osage Nation, who were first to live on the land. It included their practice of sustainability, by using only what they needed.

The school is off 8989 S. Tom Bass Rd., south of Columbia, with a driveway that is easy to miss.

The teachers are all CPS teachers. So is Ragan Webb, the elementary science coordinator. This first year, all CPS fifth-graders will have spent three days at the nature school in the fall, two days in the winter, and three days in the spring, or nearly spring.

The plan is to include other Boone County school districts in the scheduling starting next school year, Webb said. They will schedule through the Missouri Department of Conservation. Even so, private schools and other grade levels in CPS have arranged field trips to the nature school.

“We’ve had tons of field trips out here,” Webb said.

The Missouri Department of Conservation hosts several public events and talks at the school.

“It’s highly engaging,” Webb commented. “Just being in nature, there’s so many researched benefits of being outside. They’re learning things without realizing they’re learning it,”

Faculty from the Missouri Department of Conservation includes Brian Flowers, regional education supervisor, and Jenna Stiek, conservation educator.

It was gusty outside on St. Patrick’s Day at the nature school. A bit cool in the morning but warming nicely in the afternoon.

The students’ classroom teachers also had good things to say about the nature school.

“It gives them an opportunity to learn not in the walls of our classroom,” said teacher Heidi Watson. “They all get to fish and hike.”

It’s fun to hear the kids complaining about it before they arrive, then enjoying themselves after they arrive, commented teacher Quintin Imler.

“It’s easier out here for sure,” Imler said about educating students about the environment.

Watson described the experience as “authentic.” In the fall, her students released a monarch butterfly that had recently emerged from its cocoon. It was released after it was banded.

“They all learned from partners in Mexico that saw the same butterfly,” Watson said, adding that the nature school is a perfect location and environment for learning.

“A lot of my kids who struggle (in the classroom) thrive out here,” Watson said. “Where there’s interest, there’s learning.”

The students were learning how to use a compass and how to measure distances by pacing. A smile emerged on one student’s face when she discovered she knew how to use the compass correctly.

“Oh, that’s freaky cool,” she exclaimed.

The students counted their paces for 100 feet. Then they counted them again for accuracy. They used their newfound skills to play a game using compass settings. The next day they would use their compasses and pacing experience on a hike.

Teacher Gabe Nichols prepared one class for the hike.

“That’s going to be how you know you have graduated from the nature school, you can make it back to the nature school,” Nichols remarked.

He also told them their deadline.

“The buses leave at 2,” he warned.

Molly Wheatley is one of the four full-time nature school teachers.

“We really try to gear ourselves to what’s engaging,” Wheatley said. “Kids are more engaged outside even.”

The learning without realizing happens every day, she said, adding, “For our first year, I think it’s gone incredibly well.”

Previously, she had taught kindergarten, first, and fifth grades in the schools. All of the nature school teachers have several years of experience, she said.

Other nature school teachers are Jordan Rockett and Joe Brown.

The first year has been a success, but Webb mentioned she wants next year to be even better.

“Kids are loving being out here,” she said, noting that the school is living up to its potential.

“It’s something that every kid can access,” Imler said about the focus on the sustainability of the Osage.

Watson also observed that education goes both ways.

“I’m learning a ton,” she said.