Educational Programs

Educational Programs Overview

McDowell's Educational Programs help students and adults connect to the natural world and the foods they eat. The classes offered in the Environmental Center and Farm School are all correlated to the Alabama state educational standards. Teachers who participate receive continuing education credits through PowerSchool. To date, thousands of students and teachers from hundreds of schools from Alabama and the surrounding states have come through our programs. These programs are an essential part of McDowell's main mission to show the way the world could be. Click on any of the programs or activities below to learn more.

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Environmental Center

McDowell Environmental Center provides outdoor learning experiences that can't be found in a classroom for school groups. Learning takes place through exploration and inquiry in the forests, canyons, and streams of beautiful Camp McDowell. Participants are immersed in the beauty and splendor of nature, thereby learning the importance of taking care of the environment. We introduce them to problem-solving, team building, and ways we can make the world a better place.

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McDowell Farm School

Students who attend the Farm School are able to make connections about the foods we eat and how it comes to our plates. Sustainable agriculture, team-work, and hands-on caring for our gardens and farm animals are some of the experiences students take with them. Whether it be milking a goat or harvesting a carrot, students create connections and a deeper understanding of their involvement in food systems. This is an eye-opening experience of enlightenment that will impact the students for their entire lives.

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Teacher Workshops

McDowell Educational Programs offer teachers exciting and adventurous ways to acquire their continuing education credits! We give teachers new ideas, materials, strategies, and skills to take back to their classrooms while providing credits through PowerSchool. These credits are also TEAMS approved. Our educator workshops get teachers more comfortable with the outside classroom so that they will return to their classes refreshed and enthusiastic about taking their students outside.

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