Working side by side with elementary school children, professional landscape contractors from Wardrip Landscaping built the Kansas City metro area’s first “Ponds for Kids” outdoor classroom, according to Matt Bolger, General Manager, Wardrip Landscaping. Students from each classroom at Prairie Point Elementary School participated throughout the day Sept. 19 to complete the construction of their own pond in just one day, helping with digging, placement of rocks, planting of foliage, laying down mulch and adding the fish.
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The project is a part of the national “Ponds for Kids” program and consists of an enclosed eco system including a pump powered stream and waterfall, which is an ideal learning environment right on the school grounds. The pond dimensions are approximately 11 ft. x 16 ft. x 2.5 ft deep. The stream is 10 feet long. Wardrip Landscaping donated the manpower and underwrote the costs of the equipment and materials as a part of their community service program. Bolger headed the project for
Wardrip Landscaping, which included managing the pond planning and design, excavation, installation of the waterfall and landscaping in both the water and around the pond.
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Ponds for Kids is a national non-profit organization that assists schools and organizations in constructing and learning from ponds. “The pond gives the students an outdoor classroom complete with fish and other water creatures to enjoy,” says Bolger. Outdoor classrooms are growing in popularity across the country, providing students and teachers with unique scientific learning opportunities, as they can observe a complete functioning changing ecosystem everyday.
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The pond curriculum assists students in the understanding of living organisms, understanding scientific inquiry, demonstrating an understanding of changes in ecosystems and interactions of living organisms, and demonstrating an understanding of the processes of scientific inquiry.