Bradford Woods educates children

Bradford Woods Director Shay Dawson said if people grow up in Bloomington, they come through Bradford Woods.

Since 1957, the 2,500-acre outdoor center has been run by IU’s Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism in the School of Public Health, and every year, elementary school kids visit the center.

“We believe it’s the longest-standing history between an outdoor organization and a school district in the state,” Dawson said. “It’s also the largest landholding in the state besides the park system.”

Dawson said Bradford Woods serves about 1,000 kids from area schools annually, such as those from the Monroe County Community School Corporation.

Schools visit one to three at a time from March to May and September to November each year.

The students spend three days sleeping in cabins and exploring the land.

“We do an all-day hike, a night experience where they see nocturnal animals,” Dawson said. “We teach them about weather and aquatic life. It’s a very hands-on, different way of learning. We want to reinforce what they learn in class in a way that has a lasting impact that reading out of a book doesn’t have.”

Each school is accompanied by Leadership Opportunities Through Service seniors from Bloomington High School North and Bloomington High School South.

“Seniors have to fill out an application and get through an interview,” Dawson said. “Then, they’re assigned to specific schools to help the staff and teachers. It’s a great program for leadership training and working with kids.”

Dawson said Bradford Woods tries to teach kids about nature’s importance.

“We’ve done studies that say people who take care of the Earth as adults had some sort of transformative experience in nature as kids,” he said.

“Now, kids don’t get out into nature as much. We want to provide that. There are so many small, impactful things you just can’t see staring out of a car window. You have to get out and explore.”

Follow reporter Stephen Kroll on Twitter @StephenKroll1.