2,200 5th graders from all over Boone County will visit BCNS for seven days. Four classes at a time will learn at BCNS over the course of the school year, spaced over three sessions to allow students to observe the native landscape during three different seasons. While on-site, students will connect with nature in new and exciting ways, engage in unique and meaningful cross-curricular learning opportunities, develop proficiency in various outdoor skills, and be inspired to create lasting change in their community by participating in a sustainability project.
Sessions Calendar
- Session 1 (3 consecutive days): August 29 through November 22
- Session 2 (2 consecutive days): November 28 through February 28
- Session 3 (2 consecutive days): March 1 through May 24
The calendar will offer a unique opportunity for students to visit BCNS during three different seasons of the year. 5th Grade classes completing Session 1 from August through September 20 will return between November 28 and December 21 for Session 2 and between March 1 and March 20 for Session 3. This will allow students to make observations on-site during summer, fall, and winter. 5th Grade classes completing Session 1 from September 21 through November 22 will return in January or February for Session 2, and between March 21 and May 26 for Session 3. This will allow students to make observations on-site during fall, winter, and spring.
To accommodate all 5th graders, an overlap day will be included in the schedule during Session 1. Day 3 activities will include a half-day off-site (at the Boone County History and Culture Center), and a half-day exploring Three Creeks Conservation Area, and thus will not require BCNS building access. This will allow for a new group to begin their Day 1 activities on the same day that the previous group is conducting Day 3 activities.
The morning and afternoon activities built into the daily schedule allow for flexibility when necessary due to weather or other unexpected circumstances, or to allow for smaller group sizes when needed during activities.
Additionally, both Sessions 1 and 3 include two afternoons of DNS Outdoor Skills curriculum, with fishing in the fall, and orienteering in the spring. The schedules for these activities were created to allow for scheduling adjustments with minimal disruption, if needed. For example, if fishing becomes unproductive at the BCNS pond on November 1, plans can be modified to allow students visiting for Session 1 in November to learn orienteering instead, and save fishing for the spring session.
