KOOTENAI — Six months ago, a small piece of school-owned property beside Kootenai Elementary was contributing little to the students next door.

A combination of woods and wetlands, the area was appealing to educators aiming to expand the school’s outdoor education opportunities, but teachers were discouraged from using it because of persistent marshiness that made it impossible to visit without tracking mud throughout the school’s halls and classrooms. 

In July, nonprofit Kaniksu Land Trust set out to change that. Since then, the organization has replaced the area’s primitive dirt trails with gravel paths, installed several culverts and a small footbridge to help students traverse the area, and created six unique outdoor classrooms designed to facilitate a variety of lesson types.

“Just like our teachers need classrooms, outdoor educators need a classroom, too, and playgrounds are quite uninspiring spaces for outdoor education,” said Katie Cox, KLT executive director. “The idea is really, ‘How much nature can we bring to the schools?’” 

The 10-acre parcel is home to a surprisingly diverse collection of plants and features, and includes an aspen grove, a white pine forest and an area that was once home to a small orchard that still contains productive apple trees. 

A natural hill facilitates sledding and a “boulder hop” circuit is designed to act as a homemade alternative to traditional playground structures. 

“It’s a fun space for the kids to get their wigglies out,” Cox said. 

Anita Palmer, Kootenai’s art and outdoor education specialist, is a primary user of the area. Palmer teaches lessons outside when possible and aims to help students become responsible users of the land by teaching them the “leave no trace” principles. 

“They’re just happier outside. More engaged,” Palmer said. “They definitely have more energy.” 

Because Palmer splits time between outdoor education and art, she also makes use of the area and its resources when helping students practice creative expression. 

This year, students in Palmer’s class have created pinecone bird feeders, traced leaves by placing them under a page and rubbing it with a crayon, and made mandala patterns in the woods using natural materials like stones and pine needles. 

In addition to outdoor education, Cox hopes instructors of core courses can also utilize the space to enhance their curriculum. 

“If teachers want to pull the kids out in order to use nature to teach math or use nature for reading time, there's space for them to do that,” Cox said. “It can be as simple as sectioning off a space and saying, ‘How many willow trees are planted in this space? Count them and measure the longest branch with a tape measure and collect the data.’” 

Elizabeth Sims, a beacon teacher at Kootenai who instructs students who struggle with behavior how to cooperate with peers and adults, uses the space to allow students to stretch their legs in a comforting environment. 

“The gym can be very overstimulating,” Sims said. “It’s very calming being out in nature,” she added. “Even the kids that are more high-behavior just seem more grounded out there.” 

With the Kootenai property transformed, Cox and KLT are now turning their attention toward a pair of spaces they hope to similarly improve on the grounds of Farmin Stidwell and Washington elementary schools. 

KLT has already procured designs for the other properties, but since they’ve long existed as unnatural grass fields, Cox is expecting them to require more attention and resources. 

“The great thing about Kootenai is that it was already a wild space, and in a way, it just needed to be tamed a little bit,” Cox said. “Both Washington and Farmin are going to be much more expensive because we have to build nature.” 

In total, KLT anticipates it will cost $200,000 to bring the envisioned spaces to life at all three schools. Cox noted that once outdoor areas have been rewilded, they typically become less expensive to maintain compared to traditional grass fields, which require herbicide, watering and regular mowing. 

To see the project through, KLT is soliciting donations and pursuing grants. Because excavation and construction work are major costs for the project, Cox also encouraged local businesses and contractors to consider volunteering labor and equipment when the time comes to move earth. 

“There are a lot of skills that are living within our community that could be gifts in kind,” she said. 

“It's going to take the whole community getting behind these projects in order to do them at the speed we want to do them,” Cox added. “The timeline will follow the money.” 

By improving outdoor spaces across the district, LPOSD and KLT staff hope to help students develop the skills necessary to make use of North Idaho’s greatest resource — its land. 

Palmer emphasized her goal of ensuring students leave her program knowing how to recreate safely and responsibly, and that all it takes to enjoy the outdoors is a pair of shoes and an adventurous mindset. 

“I’m just teaching them that there are so many options that are either zero-cost or low-cost in our area,” she said. 

For Cox, ensuring students understand the land they live on and what makes it unique is critical to their sense of place and overall well-being. 

“The more we can connect kids to this place, the happier and healthier they’ll be,” she said. “And the greater intellectual curiosity you’ll find that they have.”

    An architectural rendering shows a proposed outdoor education space at Farmin Stidwell Elementary School Kaniksu Land Trust and Lake Pend Oreille School District hope to develop in the future.