feature Profile
Keep Mesquite Beautiful / Nature Explore Classroom
Keep Mesquite Beautiful Collaborates on Nature Explore Classroom
Keep Mesquite (Texas) Beautiful and Historic Mesquite, Inc. collaborated during 2010 to create a Nature Explore Classroom at the Lawrence Family Homestead historic site. The Lawrence Homestead Outdoor Classroom earned the national designation of a certified Nature Explore Classroom from the Arbor Day Foundation and Dimensions Educational Research Foundation in January 2011. The national certification places the Lawrence Homestead Outdoor Classroom in a select circle. It is the first certified Nature Explore Classroom located in Mesquite; the first Keep Texas Beautiful affiliate to be certified in the state of Texas; and the first to be constructed at a historical park in the United States. Nature Explore Classrooms, which are being developed across the country with support from Keep America Beautiful affiliates, offer interactive elements that give children important and inspiring experiences in nature. While connecting children with nature, such unstructured play and activities are shown to enhance concentration, develop creativity and problem-solving, relieve stress, and improve skills in many areas.
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