Clear Spring School received a $1,075.23 grant from the Ozark Society Foundation to build trails on campus.

Clear Spring’s middle school class (the Robins-14 students) worked with teachers Brittany Osborne, Aimee Tackett and Alaina Davidson to design and construct an interpretive trail on campus.

Davidson helped the students survey the land, design trail elements and clear the trail itself. The students also designed trail signs that were printed using the school’s glow-forge. These signs included pictures and descriptions of things along the trail (trees, animals, habitats).

During the Arkansas Environmental Education Association conference June 6-7, the students led a group of visitors on their trail. The students also shared the trails with their families during the Family Festival on June 14, the culminating event of Clear Springs’ school year when current and past families are invited to see what the students have been up to.

The project took most of the winter and spring to complete. The project was a great success, and Clear Spring will continue to develop the trail and improve upon its usage.

In association with a grant from Cox, the school also purchased materials to kit out the students with science investigation backpacks and they have been using those along the trails as well. The school has several dif-