Countryside Montessori students learn from nature

Pond watching requires not only good observation skills, but a little patience, as well.

Teacher Jamie Wojciechowski found that out just recently at the pond that serves as the showpiece for a new outdoor classroom on the campus of Countryside Montessori Charter School.

One day Wojciechowski heard a loud splash. She stayed quiet and watched. After a minute or so, an otter, clutching a fish in its mouth, emerged from the water and settled down to enjoy its meal.

Wojciechowski, using an otter puppet as a prop, shared that story Friday afternoon with students before leading them out to the fenced-in pond where their assignment was to draw all the critters and plants they saw.

The children clearly enjoyed that idea.

"There's lots of frogs in there," said Mason Mantei, 7, a second-grader. "I like that."

"Some people say there is a big alligator," said Maya Campbell, 6, a first-grader.

The outdoor classroom, known as Pond Vista, officially opened in October with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Each Friday, Wojciechowski leads a series of science lessons at the pond, which is home not just to the otter, an alligator and the frogs, but also tadpoles, fish and whatever else nature might serve up on any given day.

Assisting Wojciechowski was Eliana Pinti, the school's Spanish teacher.

The school on Ehren Cutoff is bounded by wetlands, so it was natural to incorporate the surroundings into science lessons.

Wojciechowski is the school's art teacher, but she enjoys the additional duties as environmental teacher.

"I've always loved nature," she said.

The Montessori philosophy is big on nature and caring for it, so lessons that incorporate the pond fit nicely into that, Wojciechowski said.

The school created the outdoor classroom using a $3,000 grant provided by the Southwest Florida Water Management District. A portion of the money helped equip the classrooms with water sampling kits, books and other materials.

Also, 250 plants were donated for the project by Entrix, a company that provides consulting services in environmental and natural resource management.

Clark Hull, a Swiftmud scientist and the father of four students at the school, played a key role in making the outdoor learning environment happen. Timothy Makley, the school's groundskeeper, also did a lot of work.

The idea behind Pond Vista was to create an ecosystem that would provide students hands-on studies in ecology, zoology, biology, geography and mathematics.

"This is a little treasure," said Dennise Ondina, director of the school.

The outdoor classroom, with benches, a glass-enclosed bulletin board for displaying student work and the fenced-in pond, is a work in progress.

Ondina said the school wants to lower the fence and install an observation deck so students can get a better, unobstructed view of the pond.

Now, they must peer through the chain link, trying to be patient.

You never know what might surface.