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Nature's Own
High School
OUTDOOR CLASSROOM - Demonstrating how to collect lake water, Ani Banning teaches sophomore biology students effective ways to gather data about Lake Fayetteville. Students used the water collected to learn about microorganisms that live in the lake. Photo by Ashlyn Dillard
Student Feature Article
Nature's Own High School: the Lake Fayetteville Learning Center
FHS student author Beth Anne Harrison is a reporter for the FHS Register newspaper.
Hiking through the forests with friends and boarding a fishing boat for a quick ride may not sound like an educational opportunity; however, the Lake Fayetteville Environmental Study Center is incorporating these activities
into their new curriculum for high school biology students.
Fayetteville and Springdale High Schools are being welcomed, once again, to bring students to the Lake Fayetteville Learning Center. The curriculum for the two trips that sophomores will make this year has to do with teaching students to collect data, understanding concepts of environmental biology and learning about ecosystems. Teachers said it fits nicely into their biology lessons.
“We are required to have 20 percent of labs or field trips for teaching,” biology teacher Robin Buff said. “This field trip is a great way for the kids to learn lots of the curriculum in one day.”
Students often enjoy the day of the trip. While learning, they get to interact with classmates and have a chance to be out of the regular classroom setting.
“I got to drive the boat,” sophomore Coleson Young said.
Some students enjoyed the educational side of the field trip.
“My favorite part would have to be looking through the microscopes at the plankton we found in the water,” sophomore Dalton Seat said.
Sophomores Mia Bautistia and Emily McComas agree saying they were surprised at how the lake topics actually sparked interest in them.
“Lake Fayetteville Environmental Study Center was established in 1974 and is a non-profit program that seeks to help students learn about biology in their own town,” said Kevin Bennoch, director of the Fayetteville Environmental Study Center.
Biology teachers said Bennoch is a good lecturer and fun for the students to work with. He and Springdale director Ani Banning lead the labs and activities on trips.
“They are pros at the curriculum and offer insightful information, speaking from experience,” Buff said.
“They were great influences on me and it made me think about the possibility
of perusing a career in the sciences,” said junior Taylor Barker.
In 1973 the city of Fayetteville leased the 266 acres of parkland to the Fayetteville and Springdale Public Schools for a period of at least 50 years. Since then the center has been one of the longest running environmental science programs in the world, an attraction and model for other facilities, according to the Lake Fayetteville Environmental Study Center Web page.
With education a dominating factor in every part of society today, the Lake Fayetteville center is working to help students in the Fayetteville and Springdale Public Schools systems get ahead and have experienced learning.