How many colleges would allow their students to create their own class? At 麻豆传媒团队, students recently did just that with a little help from their professors.
On their way home from having a unique and fulfilling FIRE (Focused, Integrated, Reflective, Experience) Week adventure at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont (GSMIT), where participants learn how teachers from across the country implement experiential learning opportunities, a spark ignited. Right then on the bus ride back, a group of Wittenberg students pursuing teacher licensing generated and successfully pushed the idea for a new class forward that would provide them with further connections to GSMIT.
The result: the birth of a topics course, EDU 280 GSMIT Schoolyard Network, which debuted this semester with 11 students enrolled in it.
Co-led by Annie Roth of GSMIT and Mike Daiga, associate professor of mathematics teacher education, the course is in full bloom, as it utilizes GSMIT鈥檚 professional learning community connected to the monthly meetings called the 鈥淪choolyard Network.鈥� Starting next semester, Wittenberg will also offer both a one-credit-hour course for undergraduate students, EDUC 202, and another, EDUC 502, for practicing teachers looking to renew their license or start a master鈥檚 program, while providing induction support for Noyce scholars once they graduate and are working in high-needs schools.
Education majors Lexie Minard, class of 2026 from Beavercreek, Ohio, and Dylan Bledsoe, class of 2026 from New Carlisle, Ohio, were two of the lead students who were instrumental in moving the class forward.
鈥淐oming off one of the best weeks of my life, an idea came together, and what is now called the EDUC 280 GSMIT Schoolyard Network course started between bus seats full of smiles and laughter,鈥� said Minard, who serves as president of Sigma Kappa Gamma Omega and is majoring in early childhood education & intervention specialist while pursuing a minor in religion at Wittenberg.
After spending a whole week together eating meals, sharing stories, and putting their 鈥渓earner hats鈥� on, the group grew close to their leader, Daiga, who was thrilled to make the course happen.
鈥淏eing able to connect in this more personal way and have these conversations allowed this to blossom,鈥� Minard added. 鈥淎t some point in time, the idea of 鈥榳hat if we made this a more permanent thing at Witt outside of a FIRE week鈥� became a conversation. Many of us raised our hands and were immediately interested and wanted to be involved. We were eager to make it happen and see it through. There was a group of us willing to do whatever it took to make this happen. As Dr. Daiga could tell you, we are a fun and loud group and like to challenge the norm and have loads of fun along the way. Staying connected over the rest of the spring semester and into the summer, it became official, and I immediately added the EDUC 280 GSMIT Schoolyard Network course to my schedule. I could not be happier with my decision.鈥�
鈥淟exi and Dylan were really interested in getting back to GSMIT; they loved their time in the Smoky Mountains, and they were aware enough to know this time was helping them develop as future teachers,鈥� Daiga said. 鈥淚 remember telling them on the bus ride home from FIRE Week last spring that if there were four-to-five students interested, we could design a new course.鈥�
Roughly 10 minutes later, Daiga recalls that the two students had Jack Miller, class of 2026 from Rocky River, Ohio, and Avery Young, class of 2026 from New Carlisle, Ohio, also committed to the course, which they all began promoting across campus until it was full.
鈥淚t is awesome to think about how your simple interest in returning to Tremont and a conversation with your professor on the way home from FIRE Week can turn into a whole course, another trip to Tennessee, and a deeper appreciation for teaching in outdoor environments,鈥� Daiga said.
Bledsoe relayed that all the students who attended FIRE Week wanted to go back as soon as they left.
鈥淲e were searching for ways to stay connected with GSMIT and the Tremont staff. We were interested in their summer internships but missed the deadline by a week or so,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is where the idea of the course came about. Going into our senior year, our schedule is pretty set. But hearing that there was even the smallest chance of a class related to GSMIT, we were eager to take the chance and willing to be as flexible as needed to make this course work.鈥�
As part of the new course, students were also able to be part of the Teacher Escape Weekend at GSMIT. A professional development opportunity for educators nationwide to connect in the Smoky Mountains, the event allows participants to become the learners and view the natural world as students, so they have additional perspectives to bring back to the classroom. Both Minard and Bledsoe, along with the nine other students in the class, attended the event, which was also an opportunity to network and connect with teachers and the Tremont staff to guide and prepare attendees in bringing the outdoors into a daily routine 鈥� showing that it is possible to integrate all disciplines into the outdoor world.
鈥淭eacher Escape Weekend at GSMIT is built into the fall course, and therefore students enrolled must attend the event,鈥� Daiga said. 鈥淥ur students joined about 80 other in-service teachers at Tremont for the two-day professional development event. For the spring semester course, we will host a 鈥楽choolyard Escape鈥� event in Ohio on April 16-17, 2026, and the Tremont faculty will be coming from Tennessee to facilitate and talk to Wittenberg students and practicing teachers about how to conduct outdoor experiential learning with students at local school playgrounds and outdoor spaces. We are the first out-of-Tennessee group to have Tremont faculty run a Schoolyard Escape event like this, which is very exciting. Starting as sophomores, students can get involved with this course sequence, which can continue after they obtain their undergraduate degree as graduate students.鈥�
These courses are a step toward continuing to build a community for Wittenberg pre-service teachers to connect with in-service teachers as part of a professional learning community (PLC). Besides visiting Tremont in the fall, students enrolled in the courses meet monthly with the PLC online to conduct outdoor experiential learning activities that they could implement with K-12 students. And because GSMIT is an external partner on the Noyce Scholarship program grant through the National Science Foundation, the graduate courses are built as 鈥渋nduction support鈥� for Noyce scholars once they graduate and begin working at high-needs schools.
鈥淭his weekend allowed me to connect with teachers from multiple states, some of whom are not in the traditional teacher role, which was awesome to learn about,鈥� Bledsoe said. 鈥淪peaking with those not in the traditional role, I learned more about collaborating with professionals. I learned how important it is to never stop learning. There is always more we can learn, and we should jump at any opportunity that allows us to grow.
鈥淲orking alongside veteran teachers helped me make sense of concepts more easily than expected. In my courses, I have learned about the cross-cutting concepts but have not seen them in use before,鈥� Bledsoe continued. 鈥淪o, learning through cross-cutting concepts and then hearing how these teachers implement them into their classroom helped me gain a better understanding. This experience reminded me to be outside and take it all in, for both myself and my students. It reminded me of how learning doesn鈥檛 have to feel like a tiring task. Effective teaching doesn鈥檛 have to look like lecturing and producing the top test scores, rather, it can be building life experience where students get to apply knowledge on more than just pen and paper.鈥�
Minard said that every time she visits Tremont, she learns more than she did the last time, gaining new perspectives and ideas.
鈥淚 learned so much this weekend that it is hard to put into words the impact it has on me. Through my time at Tremont, it has become clear to me that outdoor education is a route I want to follow,鈥� she said. 鈥淎dditionally, it leaves me feeling incredibly grateful that I can experience a place as unique as Tremont in my current position as a pre-service teacher.
鈥淢y Tremont experiences have taught me that effective teaching is so much more than the brick-and-mortar building 鈥� that the outside world is just as engaging, if not more so, and that nature has so much to offer,鈥� Minard added. 鈥淭oday鈥檚 students are so accustomed to daily routines and screens that when you break this cycle, even occasionally, you can capture their minds in new ways. Through inquiry and questioning, your students can flourish and thrive. In addition to allowing students to learn and create together, it can inspire new perspectives.
鈥淚n my future educational endeavors, regardless of their form, I will strive to incorporate art and the outdoors into my classrooms. There is always an excuse to get outside and be creative, even if that means looking up at the trees and the sky. Nature has a great deal to offer and will continue to do so. Teaching the next generations to have the connection and care for Mother Nature will allow many more generations after them to experience these joys.鈥�
For Minard and Bledsoe, their Wittenberg FIRE Week experience made a huge impact on them in so many ways.
鈥淚 always thought my path would be an education degree, straight into the classroom. I now know I want to pursue a more non-traditional school setting, such as outdoor education or Montessori education, one day,鈥� Minard said. 鈥淵ou may have to hike all the way to the Smoky Mountains, but there are lots of options out there. There is such value in reconnecting people to the outdoors and showing thanks to the natural world. Nature holds so much learning potential 鈥� from measuring growth in a tree from year-to-year, identifying patterns in the natural world, or creating poems and drawings about rocks and rivers and how that makes you feel and beyond.鈥�
鈥淓very time I go to GSMIT or participate in discussions with their network, I always feel re-inspired,鈥� Bledsoe said. 鈥淧reparing to go into a profession that has a high burnout rate, it is important to find the things that reinspire you and relight the fire to continue being passionate.鈥�
About the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program
According to its website, the National Science Foundation鈥檚 Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program provides funding to institutions of higher education to provide scholarships, stipends, and programmatic support to recruit and prepare STEM majors and professionals to become K-12 teachers. The program seeks to increase the number of K-12 teachers with strong STEM content knowledge who teach in high-need school districts. NSF encourages partnerships between four-year institutions and two-year institutions, providing pathways leading to STEM teacher certification.
Wittenberg鈥檚 ASCENT-STEM program is supported by the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program Grant No. 2344921. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this project are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Science Foundation.
