If you swing by the Kalamazoo Christian Elementary or Middle School, you’ll see the new addition to campus.

Outdoor education at Kalamazoo Christian has been a growing program of the school for several years now. Students at any grade level have the opportunity to get outside and learn to care for the world God’s given them.

In Preschool, the Nature program does the activities of a traditional classroom in an outdoor setting. There is a nature-focused theme for each month and opportunities that deepen students’ understanding about God’s creation.

Outdoor education classes start in Elementary School and introduce concepts which navigate to practical application in Middle School. Students cover topics like plant and animal identification, bee keeping, map reading, species native to Michigan, seed collecting, compass use, campfire safety, poisonous plant treatment, wind chill, ice safety, maple syrup making, river and stream protection, chicken raising, planting, foraging and ecosystems.

High School students have the option to enroll in Environmental Science, focusing on human and environmental interaction. They discuss how Christians have a responsibility to make this interaction more positive. Areas of focus include ecosystems, population size, waste management, energy, soil and climate change. 

Through partnerships with the DNR, the Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery and the Winchell neighborhood in Portage, MI, students have the opportunity to research and contribute solutions to real issues in their community.

Outdoor Education provides experiences for students to extend and apply their learning to real-world situations. It develops a love and care for the environment with opportunities to apply the “Creation Caring” Faithline.

Through these classes, students gain the benefits of spending time outdoors such as physical activity, improved health, sensory regulation, reduced stress levels and greater self-awareness of capacities and limitations.

To support the Kalamazoo Christian Outdoor Education program, the need for additional space was recognized. In April 2025, the Kalamazoo Christian School Association office partnered with the Kalamazoo Christian Outdoor Education staff and area businesses to host the “Our Kids” auction, supporting the development of this new building.

Located at the center of the 12th Street Campus, this new building will be accessible to all of the Outdoor Education areas including the woods, the honey bee hive, the pond, the Christmas tree farm and the school.

Having a building for outdoor education will open up class time by eliminating the hike to the woods on days where being in the outdoor education classroom is not necessary or in the case of inclement weather.

Director of the Outdoor Education program and teacher, Chris Bierenga, said, “We will be able to talk about and see pictures of what we’re learning about that day, and we will still have time to actually do it during the same class period instead of splitting it up between two separate weeks.”

The building provides space for an outdoor learning space, a garage and two classrooms. One classroom will mirror a traditional classroom while the other will be a workshop.

Up until now, the Kalamazoo Christian 12th Street Campus custodial staff has allowed the larger outdoor education equipment, including the maple syrup evaporator, watering tank, Gator® and shovels, to be housed in their garage, but now those items will have a long-term place in the Outdoor Education garage.

For the past three years, especially during the winter months, the Outdoor Education program has taken up residence in a portable classroom at the 12th Street Campus. The portables did not provide storage space or a project workspace. “The portables were a great temporary solution, but they weren’t really in a helpful location and there wasn’t any storage in them,” Mr. Bierenga said, “I was taking up storage space that other teachers and custodial staff graciously supplied me with, but as the program grew it became too much.”

“We will absolutely still be conducting a lot of class time in the woods because it is so good for the kids to spend time outside. There are some lessons where it just makes more sense to learn about inside, where they can more easily see pictures or do an activity. When it’s 10°F outside, it gets awfully challenging to hold a pencil!”

Due to the appeal of outdoor education and the positive response about the program from students, families and staff, the program now has an opportunity to continue serving students and grow.

“We really want to keep expanding the program, so the goal is to slowly keep adding to it in the form of gardens, orchards, pollinator and bird areas, and maybe even a greenhouse someday,” Mr. Bierenga said.