80 acres given to Lansing School District's Ebersole Center in West Michigan

Susan Vela, Lansing State Journal
·1 min read

LANSING — The Lansing School District is celebrating an 80-acre donation that will expand the size of its Ebersole Environmental Education Center for outdoor programming in West Michigan.

District officials announced Thursday that the gift with a value of nearly $1 million hails from the Ebersole Foundation and is adjacent to the center’s present location in Wayland, about 75 miles west of school district headquarters and south of Grand Rapids.

A drone captures an aerial view of Lansing School District’s Ebersole Environmental Education Center in Wayland in 2021. A gift of 80 acres will grow the size of the center from 158 acres to 238 acres.
A drone captures an aerial view of Lansing School District’s Ebersole Environmental Education Center in Wayland in 2021. A gift of 80 acres will grow the size of the center from 158 acres to 238 acres.

District officials will officially receive the gift at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Board of Education room, 519 W. Kalamazoo St.

“On behalf of the Lansing School District, our Board of Education and the Ebersole Education Center staff, I want to sincerely thank the Ebersole Foundation for this incredible, generous gift that will reshape our environmental education program at the Ebersole Center for generations to come,” Superintendent Ben Shuldiner said.

Ebersole is a 158-acre, four-seasons property where the Lansing School District has hosted students since 1977 for programming on environmental education, outdoor recreation, team building and leadership. Trips to the Saugatuck dunes are a regular staple.

A camper at Lansing School District’s Ebersole Environmental Education Center in Wayland paddles a boat across the lake at the facility, shown in a video screenshot.
A camper at Lansing School District’s Ebersole Environmental Education Center in Wayland paddles a boat across the lake at the facility, shown in a video screenshot.

“The Ebersole Center started as a tent-campground in the 1970s and today is a jewel in the Lansing School District,” said Benjamin Botwinski, the Ebersole center's director. “The donation of this land increases the total size of our center to 238 acres, and the site features a 14-acre lake, many bio-diverse environments including wetlands and mature forests."

Donna Old, chair of the Ebersole Foundation, said nearly 400 donors throughout Greater Lansing contributed to the funds needed to buy the adjacent property. She said the Dart Foundation, along with Kellie and Marylin Dean, deserved special recognition.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: 80 acres donated to Lansing School District's Ebersole Center