Fourth graders in Kathleen Stanley’s class spent the first day of their last week of school learning about all things avian.

The kids took a field trip Monday to the Maxwelton Outdoor Classroom, which is also known as the Rene Neff Outdoor Classroom in memory of the late schoolteacher and proponent of salmon education.

Neff was a founder of Maxwelton Salmon Adventure, the precursor of Whidbey Watershed Stewards, a nonprofit promoting watershed stewardship, habitat enhancement and environmental education. The organization continues to be responsible for all education taking place at the outdoor classroom, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. A total of 22 volunteers taught a variety of lessons this past spring, many of whom are retired educators who miss teaching.

Stanley’s fourth grade class from South Whidbey Elementary School spent the day scanning their surroundings for feathery friends with binoculars made out of toilet paper rolls and duct tape, pretending to catch prey with different tools mimicking beaks, building nests out of natural materials and lining up to touch stuffed fowl.

A partnership with the Whidbey Audubon Society allows the Whidbey Watershed Stewards to lend a collection of specimens to show to the classes that are learning about birds.

“The skulls are a little intense for kids,” Education Coordinator Shelby Woyciesjes said with a laugh. “I’ve loved showing off the foot because it makes the connection to dinosaurs right away.”

Marie Bergstrom, a volunteer for Whidbey Watershed Stewards, held up a blue heron wing against one fourth grader’s outstretched arm to demonstrate the enormous wingspan of the bird.

Although the volunteers teach a plethora of different topics to each class that comes to the outdoor classroom, depending on their curriculum, Bergstrom said birds remain a favorite among volunteers.

“It becomes educational for the volunteers as well as the kids,” she said.

Besides birds, volunteers have taught about food webs, spring forest ecosystems, habitats and salmon.

South Whidbey Elementary School students visit the classroom most regularly, with two days out of the school year reserved for instruction. But kids from Coupeville, Oak Harbor, Lake Stevens and as far away as Eastern Washington have also embarked on field trips to it.

“It’s just a really special place,” said Woyciesjes, who was recently hired as the only paid staff member of Whidbey Watershed Stewards. The beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, in September, was the first time the outdoor classroom had been open in 18 months since it was closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This summer, the Whidbey Watershed Stewards are partnering with the South Whidbey Parks and Recreation District to offer a series of nature camps for the first time. For more information, visit swparks.org/event/nature-camp.

Fourth graders Athena Miller and Riley Davis build a bird nest. (Photo by David Welton)

Fourth grader Cam Pelletier, front, uses a pair of binoculars — made out of toilet paper rolls and duct tape — to look for birds. His classmate Jude Johnson, back, looks on. (Photo by David Welton)