Sharpsville students spend week outdoors

Jun. 29—HERMITAGE — As the group of Sharpsville students built, then designed, their own birdhouses at Shelter Four Wednesday morning in Buhl Park, they were learning while enjoying the great outdoors.

That combination of education, hands-on activities and getting the students outside was the goal of Sharpsville Area School District's first "Into the Great Outdoors" program, teacher and instructor Lisa Oliver-Lapikas said.

"We have some different STEAM-related activities that the kids are working on, and I thought it would be something to help get us outside," Lisa said.

The United Way of Mercer County, which organizes similar programs with other school districts, assisted with the one-week program. Hosted at Buhl Park, "Into the Great Outdoors" was held Monday through Friday for Sharpsville students entering grades nine, 10 and 11.

Serving as one of the program's instructors was Lisa's daughter Olivia Lapikas, who will be a senior this fall at Westminster College.

During her first semester at college, Olivia learned, in a biology class, about the "iNaturalist" app, which can be used to identify anything from birds to trees to fungi. Since the app was educational yet easy to use, Olivia said the program incorporated iNaturalist into some of their activities.

One project involved the students using iNaturalist to identify multiple species in different categories, such as five species of birds. This was made easier due to the park's variety of plant and wildlife, Olivia said.

"We've come here for field trips plenty of times, so we knew there were a lot of different species here," Olivia said. "But the students have really picked it up and run with it."

Along with using iNaturalist, students were able to enjoy different projects, such as relocating some tree saplings and planting new plant species in the park.

"Some of the projects were things that were fun and educational for the kids, but also beneficial for the park," Lisa said.

The program also gave students a chance to learn about potential career paths post-high school, which is why representatives from a few local businesses came to speak with the students.

These visitors included Dennis James of DJ's Greenhouse and Ryan Voisey, operations director at Buhl Park.

Voisey said park officials were glad to partner with local organizations such as the United Way whenever possible, and they were "thrilled" to give local young adults a hands-on learning experience at the park.

Local vendors — including Dairy Queen, La Isla, Pizza Joe's and Hangry's — provided lunch, and Sharpsville school board member Mike Garcia was scheduled to grill hamburgers and hotdogs for the students, Lisa said.

Ava Bee and Nolan Lapikas, who will be juniors in the fall, were among the students participating in the program. Both said they had fun experiences in the program and the flexibility with which they were able to complete activities, such as identifying different species with iNaturalist.

"It's the kind of program where, even if you're not looking for a career that involves the outdoors, you'll still learn something," Nolan said.

Bee agreed and recommended students participate in the program next summer.

"It was fun getting to work with your friends and classmates, because you're getting to know them in a setting outside of class," Bee said.

Like David L. Dye on Facebook or email him at ddye@sharonherald.com.