Hundreds of students who attend the Martin Luther King Center’s summer day camp program will enjoy the use of a new outdoor classroom thanks in part to a $20,000 grant from the Rock Island Rotary Club.
Jerry Jones, executive director of the Rock Island MLK Center, accepted the oversized ceremonial check at the group’s recent meeting at the Quad Cities Botanical Center. The donation represents two years of investment income from the Rock Island Rotary Club Foundation’s local funds.
The award also was presented by John Phillips, the club’s development chair, to Rebecca Arnold, the King Center’s resource development coordinator.
The funding will be used to build the outdoor classroom, which is planned for the east side of the MLK Center where it will be highly visible from Seventh Avenue and Ninth Street, and from Rock Island’s newest park, the Martin Luther King Jr. Park.
The grant is one of the largest single grants ever given by the Rock Island Rotary Club Foundation and was made possible by not awarding a grant in 2022. “We are thrilled to be able to assist the King Center and the hundreds of children the classroom will serve each year,” the club said.
“Nature-based learning including outdoor classrooms are evidence-based solutions to help children learn and grow in age-appropriate ways,” Mr. Jones told the QCBJ. “Especially for young children whose frontal brain lobes have not yet fully developed, most learning (and all socialization) comes in the form of play, discovery and experimentation.”
He added: “Younger and older students alike learn to love math and science through direct experience, and develop important social-emotional skills including teamwork, lateral thinking, problem-solving, creative expression and emotional regulation.”
The outdoor classroom will be designed to be adaptable to all age levels of the children who are with us for after-school and summer day camp programs (ages 5-14), according to the MLK Center. The center provides a snack and a meal; fun activities and field trips — all at no cost to families.
