All week, Centralia College students have been celebrating Earth Week by attending lectures, participating in green crafts, and considering ways to incorporate sustainable habits into their routines. A cornerstone of the week is Friday’s cleanup of the KNOLL, the Kiser Natural Outdoor Learning Lab at the corner of Washington Avenue and Centralia College Boulevard.
The KNOLL — really an outdoor classroom of unlimited possibilities — is one of the most active and treasured spots on campus. The students regularly attend biology, geology and botany classes in the space, using the native plants and rocks to enhance what they’re learning in the indoor classrooms nearby. Students in writing, photography and art classes can be found there on warm days, using the inspiration of this beautiful natural area to boost blood flow and creativity. Kids in CC’s childcare center and preschool also routinely roll through the area and explore.
And, after 12 years of care for this delicate habitat, it’s no longer an exclusively human space. Insects, birds, rabbits and assorted small rodents are the most obvious residents, but new creatures are making it their home. In China Creek, you can now find at least one beaver who has built a dam and we’ve had reports of salmon returning. It’s exactly what was intended when the KNOLL was built in 2011.
Back then, that corner of campus was residential housing, but its proximity to the creek meant it could be so much more. The KNOLL was built using state construction funds and dedicated to Rufus Kiser, a well-respected researcher, who established the college’s forestry program and made botany come alive in the classroom from 1942-73. His legacy lives on in this dynamic learning lab and the college’s ongoing commitment to both environmental stewardship and education.
Today, students come to CC with a significant amount of understanding of the natural world and a solid base of environmental education. Since 1990, environmental learning has been a requirement for all Washington K-12 schools and our local schools have robust programs, including garden spaces, outdoor school and agriculture programs, greenhouses, salmon breeding programs, and much, much more. Research has proven that environmental education programs improve academic outcomes, decrease stress and behavior challenges, improve physical health, cultivate interest in science careers and help learners of all ages see beyond their immediate surroundings. It’s no wonder this learning has become so ingrained in our schools across all levels.
Environmental education is an old thing that always seems new. Rural residents have known for generations that caretaking and protecting natural spaces yields profound personal, social and cultural benefits. And, while it seemed revolutionary a decade ago, transforming a residential neighborhood into a multispecies, vibrant, natural habitat is paying dividends to generations of Trailblazers.
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Tim Wright is the Centralia College dean of instruction, arts and sciences.
