|
Mark Your Calendar
for our
Spring Open House
Sunday, May 20, 2012
________________________________
The Impossibly-Busy Parents’ Guide to Getting Kids Outdoors
Visit the National Wildlife Federation's website for lots of family activities.
_______________________________
Outdoor Lab Boosters Looking to
Augment Rural Acreage
Supporters of the Arlington Outdoor Education Association hope to purchase or protect open space around the group’s 210-acre Phoebe Hall Knipling Outdoor Lab in Fauquier County, so it is not threatened with encroaching development.
“It’s a good time to buy,” said Michael Nardolilli, who heads the non-profit organization that owns the property, which for decades has been used to expose Arlington schoolchildren to natural surroundings.
But time may be ticking away.
“The current economic downturn will not last forever,” Nardolilli said in an Oct. 6 presentation to School Board members. An improving economy will likely lead to higher land prices and increasing development pressures on the acreage around the Outdoor Lab.
“It’s important to stay ahead” of the curve, said Nardolilli, who said options include outright purchase of property, or paying for conservation easements to protect, in perpetuity, adjacent land from development.
The organization is working to prioritize neighboring parcels by their importance for preservation, and already has offered to purchase one parcel that may come on the market, Nardolilli told School Board members.
Students in Arlington’s public schools use the Fauquier County facility for a host of purposes; each year, fifth-graders get to spent an overnight session there.
“Our students are some of its best proponents,” School Board member Libby Garvey said of the facility and its programs.
The annual open house at the Outdoor Lab is slated for Nov. 6, when supporters will celebrate with an old-fashioned “mortgage burning” ceremony. Two retired educators donated $50,000 each to help retire the debt for the facility’s new animal lab.
The Outdoor Lab’s history dates back to 1967, when the Arlington Outdoor Education Association was founded by Phoebe Hall Knipling, then the science supervisor in the Arlington school system. It was later named in her honor.
________________________________
The Arlington Outdoor Education Association thanks everyone
for a successful 6th annual celebration to benefit the
Phoebe Hall Knipling Outdoor Lab!
Prizes and Silent Auction Contributions:
Restaurant Gift Certificates –
Busboys & Poets, Hard Times Cafe, Restaurant 3, Italian Store, Gordon Biersch, Metro 29 Diner, Linda's Cafe, Thirsty Bernie, Lost Dog, Sangam, Harry's Tap Room, Boulevard Woodgrill, Whitlow's on Wilson, Lyon Hall, Liberty Tavern
Theatre Tickets –
Folger Theater, Arena Stage, American Century Theatre, Signature Theater, Studio Theatre, Synthetic/Classica Theatre, Woolly Mammoth
Retail Gift Certificates –
Barnes & Noble, No Place Like Home, Casual Adventure, Cooking with Scents,
Edible Arrangements, Arrowine
Health & Fitness –
One-hour Massage, One-month Unlimited Outdoor Fitness Classes, Manicure & Pedicure
Personal Interest Items –
Washington Nationals Diamond Club Tickets, Autographed Hockey Puck,
Door Wreaths, Soil Testing Kit, Car Washes, Cooking Classes, Artwork,
Gift Baskets, Herb Garden, Hand-blown Vase, Framed Prints, Hand-Carved Toucan,
Hand-Carved Turtle, Hand-carved center piece, Starbucks Gift Bags,
Gas Service Station Gift Card, Lawn Service, Kiwi Grape Vines
A special thank you to our donors:
|
American Century Theater
|
|
Arena Stage
|
|
Arrowine
|
|
Barnes & Noble
|
|
Bill's Hardware
|
|
Body By Ginny
|
|
Boulevard Woodgrill
|
|
Busboys & Poets
|
|
Candace Wrobel
|
|
Casual Adventure
|
|
Cooking With Scents
|
|
Doggett Enterprises
|
|
Edible Arrangements
|
|
Eli's Salon
|
|
Embassy Autowash
|
|
Folger Shakespeare Library
|
|
Full Motion Body & Sport
|
|
Gordon Biersch
|
|
Harry's Tap Room
|
|
Italian Store
|
|
Jessica Hudd
|
|
Karen Robeson
|
|
KH Framing
|
|
Lebanese Taverna
|
|
Lexington Street Neighbors
|
|
Liberty Tavern
|
|
Linda's Café
|
|
Lindsay Colf
|
|
Lost Dog/Stray Cat Café
|
|
Lyon Hall
|
|
Metro 29 Diner
|
|
Mr Wash Car Wash
|
|
No Place Like Home
|
|
Paul McGehee
|
|
Paul's Best Lawn Service
|
|
Pottery By Christenson
|
|
Randolph Elementary Teachers
|
|
Rebecca's Plants
|
|
Restaurant 3
|
|
Romana Scholl
|
|
Ron & Leslie Knipling
|
|
Sangam Restaurant
|
|
Sheila Moore
|
|
Signature Theatre
|
|
Starbucks Coffee
|
|
Studio Theatre
|
|
Sue Enthrop
|
|
Sylvia Leftwich
|
|
Synetic Theater
|
|
Terry Rusnak & Jim Bregman
|
|
Thirsty Bernie
|
|
Trish Ziptel
|
|
Washington Capitals
|
|
We Recycle Trees
|
|
Westover Service Center
|
|
Whitlow's-On-Wilson
|
|
Wild Birds Unlimited
|
|
Woolly Mammoth Theatre
|
Outdoor Lab’s New Classroom Building Achieves
Silver LEED®
The New Outdoor Lab Building
The Phoebe Hall Knipling Outdoor Laboratory is a 210-acre facility that supports the science program. It provides a place for environmental education for elementary and secondary school children, a place for children to do water study, to come face to face with creatures native to the area, and to walk through the woods learning about the plants and terrain. The facility is staffed by Arlington teachers but maintained by a non-profit association – The Arlington Outdoor Education Association, Inc. of Arlington County Schools.
The facility is staffed by Arlington teachers but maintained by a non-profit association: The Arlington Outdoor Education Association, Inc.
______________________________________
|
Become a Fan of the Arlington Outdoor Lab.