At S.P. Livingston Elementary, nature is becoming part of the school day in thoughtful, creative ways. Two classrooms have now been recognized with a nature-engaged teacher stipend, a quarterly $1,000 award supported by Project One Health JAX and LISC to honor teachers who are meaningfully integrating nature and outdoor time into learning.

Fourth-grade teacher Arica Bridges and pre-K teachers Kadi Welty and Faye Tyson at S.P. Livingston are showing that nature-based learning can support academic growth, curiosity, and student well-being in different ways.

Outdoor Learning in 4th Grade

In Arica Bridges’ classroom, nature is woven into writing, research, gardening, beautification, and family engagement. Her students used outdoor observations to inspire a poetry project based on the five senses, helping them slow down, notice details, and turn those experiences into writing. The lesson connected directly to fourth-grade English language arts standards while encouraging mindfulness and appreciation for the natural world.

Her class also explored trees, plant parts, and natural artifacts outside the classroom, then extended that learning at home by inviting families to collect items like leaves and branches. 

Students participated in a beautification activity by cleaning up litter near their classroom and reflecting on how trash affects soil, plants, and the health of the environment. Research projects about nature helped students practice asking questions, gathering evidence, and clearly sharing what they learned. 

Gardening added another layer, with students planting carrots, beans, peppers, and broccoli while learning about plant life cycles, soil health, and sustainable practices.

Bringing the Outdoors Inside for PreK Students

In the PreK classroom led by Kadi Welty and Faye Tyson, nature exploration begins with hands-on curiosity. Welty and Tyson are helping young children build comfort with living things, while also learning about seasonal changes, textures, scents, and food through daily classroom experiences.

Students observed tiny snakes found on school grounds, cared for a classroom crawfish and its surprise babies, and explored aloe plants and succulents just outside the classroom door. Seasonal investigations included watching a pumpkin decompose over time, discussing what seeds need to grow, and making bats while learning the word “nocturnal.” Teachers also encouraged students to touch messy pumpkin “slime,” helping children overcome hesitation around dirt and natural textures.

Food and nature are also deeply connected in the classroom. Students tasted pies and apples, graphed their favorites, helped make bread and vegetable soup, learned about ingredients and measurements, observed yeast grow, painted with vegetables, and shared a meal together. Nature-based sensory exploration continues throughout the year with rice tables, spice rubbings, pine cone investigations, and a growing science center filled with seeds and natural objects. 

Nature Creates Many Paths to Learning

Together, these classrooms show that nature-based learning does not look just one way. In one room, it may mean poetry, gardening, and environmental stewardship. In another, it may mean observing a crawfish, touching pumpkin pulp, studying seeds, or using food preparation to build curiosity and language skills. In both cases, students are learning through direct experience.

That is exactly what the Nature-Engaged Teacher Stipend is designed to recognize: educators who are helping students spend a little less time tethered to screens and a little more time learning through the natural world. At SP Livingston, that work is already taking root.