5th Graders Head Outside For Forestry Day

DULUTH, Minn. — 5th graders got the chance to learn all about the outdoors for National Forestry Day.

Students learned about tree identification, safe hiking practices, and more. Twelve schools were in attendance across three local parks. We caught up with the groups at Upper Spirit Mountain. The other locations were Lester and Chester Parks. Each park was set up with a handful of stations. At each station students would spend about 15 minutes with very hands-on learning.

“It’s crucial to teach them about the natural resources we have in our area. And just try to understand more than what you can understand on a computer, from a TV, on a phone. Be out here in the wilderness, be out here on the trails. Actually, touch and feel the trees, just seeing the outdoors firsthand, it’s way better than second hand,” said Robert Benson, St. Louis County Forester.

Professionals from a range of backgrounds came in to give demonstrations as well. They had shown log cutting with a portable sawmill. The Lake Superior Zoo brought in a few critters. One student shared that her favorite part of the event was learning about a box turtle.

“It was small, and 25 years old and box turtles don’t grow very big. ‘Did you get to hold it?’ No but we got to pet it though. ‘Did you like the sawmill?’ Oh yeah, the sawmill was cool too,” said Greta, 5th grader.

This is the 40th Anniversary of this event; put on by The Society of American Foresters and St. Louis County with additional funding from sponsors.