Three Hamilton County schools will soon offer students more opportunities to learn and play in outdoor spaces after receiving a county grant.
“We want them to move,” said Taylor Teasley, a public health representative at the Hamilton County Health Department. “We want them to be active and it not be something that is put onto them, but something that they just really want to do. With the spaces that they proposed, from the playgrounds to the community gardens, they’ll get a chance to be a part of their environment as opposed to just going into it.”
Big Ridge Elementary, Calvin Donaldson Elementary and Hunter Middle were all awarded $40,000 active outdoor spaces grants from the Health Department to turn underutilized outdoor areas on their campuses into learning spaces, county and district leaders announced Thursday.
Three Hamilton County schools receive grants to create new outdoor learning spaces
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The aim, officials said, is to support students’ physical and mental health, promote inclusion and provide hands-on learning opportunities. The projects are expected to be completed by May 2027.
“What we know as educators is that this will change opportunities for kids,” Superintendent Justin Robertson said during a press conference. “That it will create more opportunity that leads to better outcomes for kids.”
The grant will allow Hunter Middle to transform Cason’s Courtyard, which honors the memory of a former student, into a space with a sensory garden and accessible playground. The courtyard will feature a wheelchair swing, inclusive carousel, musical instruments and crawl spaces, Principal Heidi Moses said.
“Every student deserves to feel valued, respected, empowered and to be able to reach their fullest potential,” she said during the press conference. “This new space will allow students who use wheelchairs, students who require adaptive equipment, students with a variety of learning and sensory needs to learn alongside their peers in an environment that’s designed specifically with accessibility and belonging in mind.”
Moses said she hopes the courtyard will become a space where students with and without disabilities play together, as well as that it’s used by families outside of the school day.
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Big Ridge Elementary will use the funding to turn its campus into an outdoor learning center with a pavilion classroom, raised garden beds and an arboretum, Principal Shelly Jackson said. Nature trails will also lead to a hilltop learning space.
At Calvin Donaldson Elementary, where the campus has access to both Chattanooga Creek and a marsh, the planned project is a direct reflection of the desires of students, Principal Cora Fisher said. Student journalists interviewed every third, fourth and fifth grader at the school, she said, and one of the themes that consistently came up was that students wanted more outdoor spaces where they could learn and play.
The school will create a sensory garden and a movement loop, which will have some natural barriers that form an obstacle course, with the funding, Assistant Principal Amanda Edens said. The school will also build pathways connecting the campus’ natural features to both the existing and planned outdoor learning spaces.
“Our kids, they want the opportunities,” Edens told reporters. “They want to be outside. We know that it is good for their development to be outside in those spaces. We know that it helps with self-regulation. It also gives them opportunities for collaboration with their friends in ways that we don’t often see if they’re on their phones.”
Contact education reporter Shannon Coan at scoan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6396.