CFBISD’s Outdoor Learning Center (OLC) is a 40-acre plot of land nestled between the Elm Fork of the Trinity River and Denton Creek. Originally a site for Future Farmers of America (FFA), the land was expanded into the Outdoor Learning Center in 1987 and now serves nearly 6,000 students each year throughout the district as a place to visit and perform scientific experiments in an outdoor setting.  

Field trips to the OLC help support science achievement and engagement, as well as encourage positive environmental attitudes among students. 

“Many of our students are city-bound and don’t have many outdoor experiences,” said Mike Rogers, CFBISD’s Elementary Science and Outdoor Education Specialist. “It is clear from the looks on their faces, and the bounce in their steps, that they love their time at the OLC.”

The different sections of the OLC are:

• Two ponds support a variety of animal life such as turtles, crawfish, frogs, Egrets, Blue Herons, and many more. 
• A native plant garden that is home to a variety of wildflowers native to Texas. 
• A fossil dig that contains fossils from the Ladonia Fossil Park in Northeast Texas like Mosasaur vertebrae and hundreds of shark teeth. 
• A native tree grove featuring Bur Oaks, American Elms, Live Oaks, Ashe Junipers, Sycamores, and Pecans. 
• A tall grass maze where many insects reside to be collected, studied, and released by the students.  
• An open field orienteering course where students learn to use GPS devices to orient themselves and find various waypoints in order to solve puzzles.
• A nature trail. 
• A portion of land is used by the Agriculture Science Program in conjunction with the Future Farmers of America.

“The nature trail has many features, but one of my favorites is that it takes the students right up next to Denton Creek in two distinct areas,” Rogers said. “One area is crowded with a great deal of trash, while the other looks pristine. Every student that goes on the nature trail comes out of it with a better understanding of how they have an impact on their environment and a determination to do better. Though the creek isn’t technically ours, I do plan on leading a cleanup effort to take care of that in the future.”

R. L. Turner High School vocational agriculture teacher and FFA advisor Shannon Miller oversees the agriculture area containing two barns – one for small mammals and the other for large. Right now, FFA has two cows, three sheep, one large pig, and one goat. Miller recently received a grant to create raised garden beds where the Agriculture Science Program will grow vegetables that are representative of the cultures within the district.

Each OLC activity is aligned with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Students make observations of organisms in their habitat and take measurements to support or disprove a hypothesis just like professional scientists. 

“The biggest thing the OLC does to support students in the district is by giving them the opportunity to do real scientific work in an authentic environment,” Rogers said. “We all know that learning science is easier when you have hands-on experiences. I would argue that having ‘out in nature’ experiences are even more important to foster a better understanding, and love, of science.”

Rogers maintains the OLC, trains teachers to run their OLC stations, and facilitates student field trips. 

“I work with teachers and district leaders to ensure that the skills taught at the OLC are not just fun, but also align with state standards and correlate with the work that scientists do in the real world,” Rogers said. “Each of the stations at the OLC is designed to help students gain a greater appreciation of the Earth, what it and the organisms it contains does for us, and how we need to protect it and them.”

Before coming to the OLC, Rogers was a teacher for 20 years with 13 of those in CFB. He has taught both elementary and middle school students. Most recently, he taught fourth-grade science and reading at Freeman Elementary in CFB.  

“Part of what drew me to this position was my many years serving as a Scout leader and my life-long love of nature,” he said. “By far, my favorite thing about the OLC is the genuine excitement of our students as they do hands-on science… some of it being very difficult. It’s not easy to catch and contain insects. The students I’ve seen really want to be at the OLC, and that’s when powerful learning can take place. Many of them come with a deep knowledge of science and the outdoors. So, at times, I learn from them. A close second favorite thing would be the quiet morning sunrises at the OLC where mists rise off the ponds as the light of the sun filters through the trees while birds and insects make that sweet harmony that only nature can produce. Yep. That’s pretty good, too.”