Wild Classrooms invites educators to take learning outdoors in hands-on professional development   series

Classrooms don’t have to have four walls to spark meaningful learning. Yet for many
educators, bringing science to life outdoors can feel out of reach without the right tools, ideas, or support.
University of Illinois Extension and Ag in the Classroom are changing that with Wild Classrooms, a four- day, hands-on professional development series designed to help K–6 educators turn outdoor spaces into powerful teaching environments.
Held June 15–18 from 10 a.m. to noon at the South Park Large Shelter in Quincy, Wild Classrooms offers practical, ready-to-use lessons that connect science, agriculture, and nature in engaging ways students will remember.
Each two-hour session focuses on a different topic—giving educators flexibility to attend one workshop or the full series while earning professional development credit.
“Teachers are always looking for ways to make learning more engaging and relevant,” said program organizers. “Wild Classrooms gives them simple, meaningful ways to step outside and help students explore the world around them—whether that’s a schoolyard tree, a local bird, or even the Mississippi River.”
Participants will experience the same hands-on activities they can bring back to their own classrooms and youth programs, including:
? Woolly Worms (June 15): Explore insect life cycles through interactive models and create a take-home teaching kit.
? Trees (June 16): Investigate growth rings, seasonal changes, and how to turn schoolyard trees into living science lessons.
? Birds (June 17): Dive into adaptations with bird beak and feet investigations and connect lessons to agriculture and local ecosystems.

? Ripple Effects (June 18): Take learning onto the water with a guided Mississippi River kayak experience, exploring watershed science and regional history.
Educators will leave with classroom-ready materials, new teaching strategies, and renewed confidence to use outdoor spaces as an extension of their classrooms.
In a unique twist, the program also makes it easier for educators with families to attend. Participants have the option to bring their children, who will engage in supervised outdoor games, hands-on activities, and park exploration during each session.
Each workshop provides two hours of professional development credit, with up to eight hours available for the full series. Cost is $10 per session or $35 for all four.
With limited spots available—especially for the kayak-based Ripple Effects session—early registration is encouraged.
Wild Classrooms reflects University of Illinois Extension’s commitment to expanding hands-on, locally relevant learning opportunities that connect youth and educators to science, agriculture, and the natural world.
Registration is now open. Educators can learn more and sign up by visiting
go.illinois.edu/WildClassrooms. 
About Extension: University of Illinois Extension develops educational programs, extends knowledge, and builds partnerships to support people, communities, and their environments as part of the state's land-grant institution. Extension serves as the leading public outreach effort for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences in all 102 Illinois counties through a network of 27 multi-county units and over 700 staff statewide. Extension’s mission is responsive to eight strategic priorities — community, economy, environment, food and
agriculture, health, partnerships, technology and discovery, and workforce excellence — that are served through six program areas — 4-H youth development, agriculture and agribusiness, community and economic development, family and consumer science, integrated health disparities, and natural resources, environment, and energy.

CONTACT: Amy Lefringhouse, Natural Resource, Environment, and Energy Educator,
heberlei@illinois.edu, (217) 223-8380