September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 26

CONSERVATION
SEED Classrooms are intentionally
unfinished, providing students with
a close-up view of the many systems
that support the classroom and how
they work.
SEEDing the Future of
Environmental Education
By Melissa Chotiner
M
ontgomery Parks recently opened the doors to its new
SEED classroom - which stands for Sustainable Education
Every Day. The modular learning space is at Black Hill
Regional Park, in Boyds, Maryland.
" We basically turned the classic
Joni Mitchell song, 'Big Yellow Taxi,'
on its head, ripping up the pavement
at an old maintenance yard and creating
a paradise for learning, " says Jennifer
Scully, who came up with the
idea for Montgomery Parks' SEED
Classroom while managing Montgomery
Parks' Black Hill Discovery
Center. The impetus was a shortage
of classroom space at the discovery
center, which is visited by an estimated
35,000 people each year.
Addressing the Need
" The 25-person auditorium was
falling short of the demands. We
were being inundated with requests
for school field trips, " says Scully.
Maryland has an environmental
literacy requirement for high school
graduation, and schools look to parks
departments like Montgomery Parks
to provide hands-on learning opportunities
to meet this requirement.
Scully first considered adding a
yurt adjacent to the center, but the
site work was too costly. That's when
she learned about the SEED Classroom
at the Phipps Conservatory in
Pittsburgh and decided to visit with
her then-6-year-old son. " Everything
26 Parks & Recreation | SEP T EMBER 2 0 2 4 | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
inside the building was exposed,
and seemed to come alive when we
opened the door, " says Scully.
Unfinished Business
SEED Classrooms are intentionally
unfinished, providing students
with a close-up view of the many
systems that support the classroom
and how they work.
" The inside of the building isn't like
most buildings, " says Andrew McCarthy,
Montgomery Parks SEED
Classroom manager. " You're
not
greeted with drywall and the smell
of fresh paint. The building strips
off the excess to the smell of freshly
cut wood. All the little things that are
out of sight and out of mind in most
buildings are on display in the SEED
Classroom. This is all by design. "
At the Black Hill SEED Classroom,
a section of one of the walls
is left open to showcase the building's
insulation. The plumbing and
electrical systems are also exposed,
and a monitor displays the electricPHOTO
COURTESY OF
MONTGOMERY PARKS, M-NCPPC

September 2024 – Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2024 – Parks & Recreation

September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - Intro
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - Cover1
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - Cover2
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 1
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 2
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 3
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 4
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 5
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 6
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 7
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 8
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 9
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 10
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 11
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 12
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 13
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September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 16
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 17
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 18
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 19
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 20
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 21
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 22
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 23
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 24
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 25
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 26
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 27
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 28
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 29
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 30
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 31
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 32
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 33
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 34
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 35
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 36
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 37
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 38
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 39
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 40
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 41
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 42
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 43
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 44
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 45
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 46
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 47
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 48
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 49
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 50
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 51
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 52
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 53
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 54
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 55
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 56
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - Cover3
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - Cover4
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2021
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com