FORSYTH, Ga. — Will Meeks, an eighth-grade Eagle Scout, was challenged with a summer project, and he decided to make a difference at his future high school, Mary Persons.
He wanted to add more nature to the student experience.
"One of the teachers had given [me] the idea to make an outdoor classroom," Meeks said. "A lot of the teachers come out here with their classes, but they just have to sit in the parking lot or in the grass."
Principal Tammy Marion explained the benefits of Will's classroom and the impact it will have on Mary Persons.
"We all felt the need for this," Marion said. "Get students out in nature to be able to have an alternative environment other than what we do inside the classroom every day. I just think it's going to be a great little asset to anybody that wants to come out and use it."
The entire project took five months from designing, presenting, funding and building.
Meeks broke down the step-by-step process of his outdoor classroom.
"First we had to come up with the idea and then we had to talk to Mrs. Marion, the principal, and she gave us the all clear," Meeks said. "We began making slideshows and Google docs, and we started presenting them to people."
But even after getting the blessing of Mary Pearson's principal, they still had some important steps to make the outdoor classroom a reality.
Meeks had to get it approved by the Board of Education, and then, get it approved by the Central Georgia Scout Council. Then, they could get the rubber to hit the road.
"We could actually start budling and fundraising," Meeks said. "Once we had it all fundraised, the construction class here helped make the benches."
With the plans approved and the money secured, they bought all the construction materials.
"Then, we had our work day and it was done," he said.
This may seem like a lot of work for an eighth grader to put together, but Scoutmaster Walker of Troop 51 explained why Meeks is an above-average scout.
"Since he came into the troop, he's been very anxious to make rank," Walker said. "He's really shown a lot of the other scouts, by focusing in on his rank, what you can achieve in a very short amount of time."
According to his scoutmaster, Meeks has imparted a lot of skills to scouts of all ages.
"Even as a young man right now, Will has shown a lot of leadership to a lot of even the older scouts as well as the younger scouts, so that's worked out really well," Walker said.
Meeks will have to wait two more years to use his classroom, but he's happy knowing he can provide the opportunity for students to learn fresh material in the fresh air.
"Students can come out here and teachers come out here," Meeks said, "and they can learn in a more relaxed and hand on" space.