Outdoor education set to take a walk

Published 1:00 pm Wednesday, July 5, 2006

KINGSTON — Despite access issues and bad weather that pushed the construction of a boardwalk and viewing platforms at Carpenter Lake back a few months, project supporters plan to keep hammering away.

After an extended break, work has resumed at the Kingston site and when all is said and done Kitsap County schools will have new outdoor education opportunity.

“Of course it’s going to be incredible for our science programs,” said North Kitsap School District director of student learning Marylou Murphy, noting that having natural environments near schools helps the teachers’ curriculum. The NKSD plans to make use of the new boardwalk once it’s opened, Murphy said.

“Literally, we’ve very seldom used it,” said Gordon Elementary School principal Claudia Alves.

She added, however, that in the coming years, the school has plans to increase the use of the ecosystems that surround the house of learning.

“Our goal for next year is to acquaint teachers with what we have around us,” Alves said.

During the 2008-2009 school year, the district could start incorporating Carpenter Lake and other areas around the school into its curriculum.

With that in mind, the Carpenter Lake boardwalk, complete with viewing platforms, will be opening soon after a long break in construction.

Delays began when a neighbor, who owns a portion of the project’s adjacent property, denied workers access to the construction site. Then, as Kitsap County’s Senior Maintenance Supervisor Dori Leckner said, “the rains came.”

“We had to shut down after we were denied access by the neighbor,” she said. “The rains came, and construction stopped completely.”

With the project half complete, and modifications to the contract needed, work halted. Chinook Properties, Inc., the construction company on the job, and Kitsap County Parks and Recreation had to revise the project to include Carpenter Lake’s shores because of all the rain received in the winter months.

The project is now back on.

Construction, Leckner said, began again June 26 and is expected to be finished by mid-July.

“There should be about 310 to 360 feet of boardwalk with eight pullouts,” Leckner said. “The viewing areas, or pullouts, will come off of the boardwalk, allowing groups to look at different parts of Carpenter Lake.”

The boardwalk is being geared toward educational uses, but it is open to everyone.

“This will tie in with Stillwaters Educational Center,” Leckner said. “There will be various opportunities for schools to have outdoor education.”

“We plan to use it whenever we can,” said Stillwaters administrative director Naomi Maasberg, adding that the education center will develop a watershed curriculum for children, and assist the school district with its educational efforts. “Even just walking people out on the trails is exciting, having watershed tours.”

Any and all schools are welcome to come and utilize the boardwalks and pullouts. A class can split, with one group on a view platform learning about one thing, and another on another section of boardwalk learning about something else, Leckner said.

“A lot of credit goes to the Carpenter Lake Stewardship group,” Leckner said, adding that this project has been a long time coming. “I can’t wait until it’s completed.”