BARNESVILLE, Pa. — Locust Lake State Park near Barnesville turned into an outdoor classroom.
Students from West Penn Elementary learned how to preserve the natural resources around them, like our waterways and wildlife.
"Nature sometimes gets pushed away, and it gets bad, so it is good to learn about it because you can help, so then we will have more nature in the future. Like birds, ecosystems, and animal and plant life," said fifth grader Justin Harakel.
Moving from station to station, the fifth graders spent the day exploring the park and even got to hold a snake and turtle.
The nonprofit Schuylkill County Conservancy organized the outing.
"So part of the reason why we want to do this is to get the kids outdoors to teach them a little bit about what it's like to be outdoors and how you should care for the outdoors so that they can go back and share it with others," said Julia Sophy, president of the Schuylkill County Conservancy.
For some students, getting outside like this doesn't happen often. While the kids enjoy a fun day out of the classroom, they're also building on things they've learned in class.
"It's one thing to portray science and nature inside the classroom, but bringing them outside, they get their hands in it, we get a little muddy, a little wet, and a little dirty," said fifth grade teacher Angela Faust.
"It's actually really interesting we got to go in the water and pick up rocks, our feet are soaked, but we loved it," said fifth grader Makayla Elston.
"It's better than learning all of this in a classroom like, yes, we do experiments in the classroom, but being out here is a totally different experience," said fifth grader Aaron Kurlin.
The Schuylkill County Conservancy plans to have more outreach events just like this one so more students can experience the great outdoors.
There’s a wonderful place that you really should see called The Land of Hatchy Milatchy.