Northview — Ma’Zyiah Ware had an immediate reaction to the rain boots and umbrellas that recently showed up in her West Oakview Elementary classroom.
“I can use these whenever I want?” she exclaimed. “Wa-hoo!”
Ma’Zyiah and the rest of her developmental kindergarten classmates will have no trouble navigating Michigan’s unpredictable weather thanks to a grant teacher Katie Shiffer received from the Northview Education Foundation. In December, the NEF helped stock Shiffer’s DK classroom with a full set of umbrellas, an umbrella holder and 10 pairs of rain boots, which will be available for student use for years to come.
Shiffer said she wrote her grant request to expand the potential for outdoor learning, rather than feel restricted by the weather.
“When it’s slightly sprinkly or misty outside, sometimes we are limited to indoor recess due to students’ feet getting wet. … With Young Fives students, it is very normal for them to want to jump in puddles or walk through puddles to see how deep they are,” she said. “Instead of saying, ‘stay out of the puddles’ hundreds of times a day, I thought, why not look at a puddle as a possibility rather than a no?”
Now, with protective gear available for all kids, Shiffer likes to lead students on what she calls “rainy day walks” where they explore science topics and other concepts impacted by the weather.
Recently, she said, they discussed cause and effect: What will happen if I walk through this puddle? Will it cover my toes? Go up to my ankles?
Thanks to the recent thaws, Shiffer said students have been using the gear weekly, if not daily, since the end of February — and they’ve even started to look forward to wet weather.
“We see puddles and we see possibilities,” she said. “It gives us the freedom to explore all the time, even on the most cloudy of days.”
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