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NEST program gaining attention and popularity

Davis Bay Elementary School

The nature program at Davis Bay Elementary School has been silently growing in size and popularity for the past two years. The program that started in 2013 with 33 students in kindergarten to Grade 3 spending much of their time learning outdoors has now grown to include 38 students in grades K to 4, and the program is getting noticed.

“We’re getting calls every day now for our kindergarten program. People are asking about 2016, 2017 and when they can start putting their kids on wait lists,” said program teacher Jennifer Groves during a presentation to the school board on Feb. 10.

“We had a call from Montreal this week and they asked if they moved their family to the Sunshine Coast, could they get in? So the word is out there, not only in B.C. but nationally as well about what we’re doing. In terms of programs like this, we are the only public education program that has it from kindergarten to Grade 4 this year, [Grade] 5 next year, and my hope is we continue to grow as our kids do.”

The program has been dubbed NEST, which stands for Nature Education for Sustainable Todays and Tomorrows. Davis Bay principal Glen Smith said the innovative program has been seeing much success because “it’s really the way students should be learning.”

“There are key aspects behind it and number one is learning from play and hands-on experiences. As we all know from our own experiences, when someone tells you or shows you, it’s not bad, but when you really get a chance to experience it yourself, that’s when the true learning happens,” Smith said.

He said another key aspect of NEST is place-based learning, “meaning not within just the traditional realm of your classroom but a much broader context and a much broader setting where students are put and allowed to explore in a wide variety of different learning environments, which makes it much more meaningful for them.”

Students in the NEST program spend about half of their days outdoors exploring in the woods, creeks, meadows and beaches and learning about what’s around them.

Teachers Groves and Linda Russell respond to whatever the children show an interest in, such as a washed-up salmon on the beach, and take the opportunity to craft their lessons around those interests.

“We really follow what nature is doing and we follow the children and their passions as well,” Groves said. “As educators, we’re used to having the curriculum in front of us and teaching from that, and in a way that’s still happening, but we have to move with it and shift wherever it goes. So Linda and I laugh because we have binders full of lessons we’d like to teach, but those are waiting for the right time. We’re designing other lessons as we go around what is being offered up to us in our learning spaces and what the kids are asking for.”

School board trustees were delighted to hear about the success of the program during their Feb. 10 board meeting, and many sang its praises.

“I hope you know that the support for what you’re doing around this table is right over the top. We all support it to the nth degree,” said school board chair Betty Baxter. “Please keep us informed through Glen [Smith] and superintendent [Patrick] Bocking where there might be places where we can offer more support, because I know we all feel a little bit like it’s our baby, too. I  know it’s really your baby, but we all feel so proud of this program and the interest and what an exact alignment it is with the needs today.”

The NEST program is considering applications for students in kindergarten and Grade 1 for the upcoming school year. There is an information session planned for parents on March 3 at 7 p.m. at Davis Bay Elementary School.

Learn more about NEST at dbeweb.sd46.bc.ca.