Community Corner

Volunteers Build Outdoor Classroom At Fishing Cove

Community members came out to help construct an outdoor classroom at Fishing Cove Elementary School.

It may be the beginning of April break, but for a group of volunteers it was the perfect day to head back to school. The group swarmed to help construct a new outdoor classroom.

Fishing Cove parents, Eagle Scouts and others carried logs of wood, poured rocks, dug holes and got to use some heavy machinery to transform the back corner of the school’s courtyard playground into a classroom with no walls and plenty of fresh air.

“I think it’s going to be super cool,” said Stacy D’Allesandro, a Fishing Cove parent and organizer of the venture. “I think the kids are going to be very excited. What better way to end a lesson down at the marsh than in an outdoor classroom?”

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The classroom will feature chairs, tables and stools made of trees and a blackboard for teachers to use in their lessons, and will have enough seating for two classrooms. According to D’Allesandro, the project should be completed by tomorrow afternoon.

The changes and additions follow the school redistricting that North Kingstown saw this past academic year, which brought preschool and other specialty classes to Fishing Cove from the now-closed Davisville Elementary School. With a newer and more diverse student population, parents, teachers and school officials got creative with ideas to fulfill students’ needs, including the addition of an early . Another idea was the outdoor classroom.

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With tight budgets, the group got a huge help from one parent volunteer with a fitting expertise. Ames Kaiser, who runs Kaiser Tree Preservation Company, offered his services and equipment and even designed the layout for the new classroom.

“It’s definitely nice to give the kids a place to go out to and get some fresh air and have a book read to them,” said Kaiser, who has two children at the school. “That’s what I envision.”

Even more help came from a group of Eagle Scouts from North Kingstown’s Troop 5. Chris Weill, a junior at , led the group as part of his Eagle Scout project after a Fishing Cove parent called his troop leader seeking volunteers.

“It seemed interesting,” said Weill. “It seemed different than the typical food drives that others have done [for their Eagle Scout projects.]”

Along with the help of the Eagle Scouts and Kaiser, the group received donations from , , Hope Dale Trucking,, , , and Ronzio’s Pizza. The Fishing Cove PTO will pay for the remaining costs not covered by donations.


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