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Schools

Williams Middle gets down to earth

The school for international studies plans a nature segment.

By ELISABETH DYER
Published September 8, 2006

Nancy Seligsohn wants her 13-year-old twins, Erin and Steven, to experience the world in an environment that challenges them.

That's why she chose to send them to Williams Middle Magnet School for International Studies on N 47th Street, the district's only middle magnet with an International Baccalaureate focus.

That's also why she's excited about plans to build an outdoor learning environment at the school.

Faculty, parents and students at Williams want to transform some school property into a place to learn through sensory exploration.

"It will be more than just a pretty space," teacher Jody Locke said.

Initially, she envisioned a pond with a few plants near an L-shaped section of classrooms by the entrance to the East Tampa school.

In the past year, her idea morphed into an outdoor learning environment with critters, a labyrinth, exotic plants and a decay experiment.

If built, the outdoor learning environment - which still doesn't have an official name - would offer urban students a chance to dig their hands into the earth, said principal Pat Harrell. Hands-on learning experiments would teach students about pollution, global warming and rain forests.

The idea fits perfectly with the school's international focus. Symbols from around the globe permeate learning spaces. In the office, eight round clocks keep time in cities such as Paris, Tokyo and Athens. Colorful flags wave in front of the school, representing different countries. The outdoor learning environment plans extend the theme with plants separated into continent of origin.

When Anahita Tamboli and her husband, who have two children at Williams, heard of the idea, they wanted to help.

"We both feel there's a lot of concrete around all of us," she said. "Our kids need to be exposed to more green space."

Instead of thinking tomatoes come from grocery stores, students could learn about the labor involved and see a plant grow from a seed, she said.

The faculty plans to study plants and soil, tracking, for example, how a plant came to Florida from Africa or Asia. Music students would imitate the sounds of nature on instruments, and student thespians would perform on a pavilion.

Students also would be able to satisfy the school's International Baccalaureate requirement by teaching environmental issues to students from neighboring Oak Park Elementary and James K-8 schools.

Principal Harrell hopes the outdoor opportunities raise awareness for caring for the world and build community unity.

Landscape architect Lorie Larson loaned her skills to create the design. She dreamed up a 6-foot unity globe, perhaps of stained glass or metal, floating on water, which will greet guests.

Now, faculty and parents are seeking financial support for the project, the cost of which hasn't been determined.

They hope to partner with the city of Tampa, Busch Gardens and the University of South Florida and break ground in April.

Tamboli is organizing the school's first gala, which will partly benefit the outdoor area.

Any community members or businesses interested in helping with the project may contact the school at 813 744-8600.

Elisabeth Dyer can be reached at edyer@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3321.

[Last modified September 7, 2006, 11:47:44]