Outdoor learning experiences have long been a hallmark of the WSG experience, from the annual 7th grade trip to the Karen Noonan Educational Center on the Chesapeake Bay to partnerships with the National Park Trust. Experiential learning activities in the sciences are especially important for girls beginning to imagine future careers.

In 2019 WSG completed the John P. Haslinger Outdoor Classroom at THEARC, a specially designed outdoor learning space adjacent to THEARC Garden and a few steps away from Oxon Run Creek. From this home base, students explore the flora and fauna of the creek, practice making scientific observations, or try their hand at nature writing under the canopy of trees.

“Our Outdoor Classroom is a hub for a number of projects throughout the middle school curriculum, which focuses heavily on environments and living systems. Outdoor learning helps students develop their skills in categorizing organisms and environmental factors, collecting data, and drawing real-world connections about the topics they are studying,” says Kaitlin Walker, Middle School Science Teacher.