• (616) 453-3925
  • Support WSCS
  • Calendar
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • About
    • Tuition & Aid
    • Transportation
    • Staff Profiles
    • School Profile
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Community Partners
    • Beyond Belief Bulletin
    • Blog
  • Programs
    • Early Childhood
    • Elementary
    • Middle School
    • Outdoor Education
    • Co-curriculars
    • Educational Support Services
    • Summer Camp
    • BUDS
  • Parents
    • COVID-19 Information Hub
    • Weekly Bulletin
    • PowerSchool Portal
    • School Forms
      • Parent Request Absence (PRA)
      • Student Self Referral Counseling Request
      • Parent-Student Counseling Request
      • WSCS Building Rental Policy
      • Kitchen Use Request
    • PTA
    • Hot Lunch Ordering
    • Calendar
    • Athletics
    • TRIP
  • Alumni
    • The Echo
  • Childcare
Schedule a Tour
  • Home
  • Uncategorized
  • Growing God’s Creation Classroom: A History
Everything You Need to Know About Educational Support Services
November 12, 2020
Growing God’s Creation Classroom: Educating Students Today
March 14, 2021

Growing God’s Creation Classroom: A History

Published by Janet Staal on February 16, 2021

Below is an excerpt of the 2020 WSCS auction speech delivered by Janet Staal, Director of Nature-based/Outdoor Education, and Katelyn Egnatuk, Nature Preschool teacher

1883 – The First WSCS Building

As God gathered a group of people to start this school He strategically planted West Side Christian School in the city of Grand Rapids. It’s awesome to see that He has a special plan for the school’s campus.  Look around the school’s location and it has a diverse setting.

Look and see a forest, swamp, garden, mini meadow, and a learning landscape that was ripe for playscapes which it has.  All of this natural beauty is found within the city of Grand Rapids. 

God revealed how WSCS could respond to the changing childhood landscape because it is changing. Think quick, what’s a favorite childhood memory that you have? I am guessing the majority of you had an outdoor memory come to mind, such as building forts, playing in the yard, wading through a stream, and climbing trees. Yet, if you look around at our nearby neighborhoods, the days of where kids spend hours outside have been mostly replaced by video games, television watching, and organized activities such as sports and clubs. We have traded green time for screen time — and it has had an impact on kids’ well-being and development.

  • On average, children aged 10 to 16 now spend only 12 minutes a day on vigorous outdoor activity compared with around 10 hours being relatively motionless. 
  • According to research, there’s a steady increase in children diagnosed with ADHD.
  • While the statistics sound dreary for kids growing up today, research shows numerous benefits that time spent in nature helps lower ADHD symptoms and helps students perform better in school. One phrase that comes up frequently is that “nature smart kids score higher on test scores.”

Knowing these statistics and all the researched benefits, as we’ve seen through our school’s history, for such a time as this, God used a group of people, including teachers, staff, administration, school board, and a handful of parents and community members to help turn a vision into a growing reality. God’s plan for outdoor education began to unfold.  In 2006 when the middle school science teacher, Brian Dyk, suddenly passed away, the school community came together to add nature trails in his honor. After several years of having those trails and nearby landscape underutilized, WSCS looked to a local community partner and neighbor, Blandford Nature Center, to gain support for an outdoor education initiative. The beauty of this partnership was that now WSCS had access to resources from a place that has been leading outdoor learning experiences through field trips for now 50 years. 

As WSCS began experiencing more of the benefits that came from taking learning outdoors, the time came to take it deeper with the creation of a nature-based preschool. At that time there were only four nature preschools state-wide, now there are around twenty! As the years progressed we added on a forest kindergarten component too. 

God’s plan unfolded and grew.  Kids today experience His glory first- hand as they make the natural connection to the glorious world He created. 

We can’t help but thank God that He has this vision for WSCS and that we all can be a part of it. God shines his glory through these powerful learning moments.  This school is helping to raise up a new generation of students that know and love God and the world that He made.

Stay tuned for more to the story. It’s easy to picture what learning looked like when we were kids, we’re going to give you a peek at how outdoor education plays a role in educating WSCS students today, what parents and students have to say, and developing hoop house news. In addition, we’ll be sharing how God is using WSCS to impact outdoor education happening through other West Michigan schools. 

Read more: Growing Hearts & Minds in the School Garden

Share
6
Janet Staal
Janet Staal

Related posts

May 11, 2022

Real-world Problem Solvers


Read more

Last year's Sun Gold tomatoes happily growing in a WSCS family's backyard garden.

January 25, 2022

Veggies for Your Yard


Read more
October 8, 2021

Growing God’s Creation Classroom: A Greenhouse Update


Read more

1 Comment

  1. Growing God’s Creation Classroom: Educating Students Today – West Side Christian School says:
    March 14, 2021 at 11:06 pm

    […] has come together to support His vision for WSCS. In case you missed reading, check out the history of our outdoor education program. Next in the series we’ll be sharing what parents and students have to say, and the developing […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Posts

  • Kindergarten
  • Uncategorized

Archives

  • May 2022
  • January 2022
  • October 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • September 2019
  • May 2019

Like Us On Facebook

Facebook Pagelike Widget

955 Westend NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

(616) 453-3925

 

 

Growing Students’ Minds.

Guiding Servant Hearts.

Glorifying Jesus Christ.

 

Newsletter

Subscribe to our bulletin and
receive weekly updates on school news.

Newsletter Signup

Facebook Pagelike Widget

Academics

Early Childhood
Elementary
Middle School
Outdoor Education
Enrichment Programs
Educational Support Services

Programs

Summer Camp
Forest Homeschool
BUDS

Parents

Weekly Bulletin
Parent Request Absence (PRA) Form
WSCS Building Rental Policy Form
Kitchen Use Request Form
PTA
Hot Lunch – Ordering
Calendar
Athletics

WSCS

Tuition & Aid
Transportation
Employment Opportunities
Community Partners

© 1883 - 2019 West Side Christian School. All rights reserved.
  • Support WSCS
  • Calendar
  • Blog
  • Contact