The day began with the sound of excited chatter and the squeak of brakes as a bright yellow school bus rolled onto the SOIL Outdoor Learning Lab campus. One by one, about 75 first-grade students stepped off, wide-eyed and ready to explore. Their destination: a hands-on day of discovery in a space designed to spark curiosity and connection with the natural world.
Nestled within the SOIL Lab grounds are several features: a collection of outdoor garden beds, a composting station where decomposition becomes a teaching tool, and the centerpiece of the campus: a 42-foot Growing Dome Greenhouse.
We visited to observe how this unique learning environment supports the SOIL Lab’s mission of “Growing an Inspired Community.” It didn’t take long to see that mission in full bloom.
As one particularly insightful student put it, a community is “a big pack of people working on something,” and that spirit of collaboration was alive throughout the day. Students moved through a series of interactive learning stations, both inside and outside the Growing Dome, each designed to engage their senses and deepen their understanding of the natural world.
Learning from the Sun
One of the first workshops focused on the sun, its movement across the sky, and how it influences both time and plant growth. Students partnered up to trace each other’s shadows in chalk, learning how the sun’s position changes throughout the day. The activity continued around the Dome where they identified cardinal directions and mimicked the sun’s arc using a globe and the Dome itself as a stand-in for the sun.
Inside the Growing Dome greenhouse, they connected the dots. How does this structure use sunlight to support a year-round growing environment? Students learned about the Dome’s passive solar design, insulation, and natural ventilation all working together to create a thriving mini-ecosystem, even when outside conditions are less than ideal.
Tasting the Garden
At another station, the focus shifted from seeing and doing to tasting. Students were invited to harvest their own green beans straight from the vine, a surprisingly thrilling experience for many of them. Some groups were adventurous enough to sample borage flowers. Fresh beets and rainbow chard rounded out the tasting menu, though their reception was decidedly mixed. Still, the experience of tasting something grown just feet away deepened the students’ connection to the garden and to the concept of food origins.
A World of Plants and Possibilities
Inside the Dome, students encountered plants they’d never seen before. A pineapple plant, thriving in the Colorado climate, caught many by surprise. They wandered among fig trees, paused at a fragrant lemon tree, and marveled at the variety of fruits and vegetables flourishing all around them.
The Dome also houses raised garden beds and a thriving aquaponics system, an innovative setup where fish and plants support one another in a closed-loop environment. Students were especially excited to see the fish, learning how the fish waste fertilizes the plants, which in turn help filter and clean the water. It’s one thing to read about ecosystems in a textbook; it’s another to watch one in action right in front of you.
These features open the door to countless learning opportunities, allowing students to explore STEM topics from biology and ecology to nutrition and environmental science all through direct, meaningful experience.
A Living Lab in Action
In just a few short months since its first planting in February, the Growing Dome has transformed into a lush, thriving hub of activity. But it’s not just for young children, the SOIL Outdoor Learning Lab serves a diverse range of learners, from kindergartners to college students, and even community members who participate in workshops and volunteer programs.
This dynamic space fosters intergenerational learning, mentorship, and a deeper understanding of sustainable living practices. Whether it’s high schoolers collecting data, families attending weekend garden days, or college interns studying regenerative agriculture, the Dome adapts to meet a wide range of educational goals.
By May, the Dome was filled with greenery, pollinator plants, and buzzing excitement. The SOIL Lab continues to evolve as a living classroom where growth, of both plants and people, is always in season.
Growing Together: A Community in Action
The SOIL Lab is much more than a school garden, it’s a long-term community investment with many more phases to come. This powerful project was made possible through a meaningful partnership between the local school district and the parks and recreation department. This demonstrates what’s possible when institutions come together with a shared vision for education, sustainability, and community engagement.
As the project grows, so too does its impact. Plans are already in motion for future enhancements that will expand access, deepen programming, and increase opportunities for hands-on learning across age groups.
Seeing the SOIL Lab in action reminds us exactly why we do what we do. The joy on a child’s face as they pick a green bean, the excitement over a fig tree, the quiet awe of watching fish swim, these are the moments where inspiration takes root. This is how we grow an inspired community!
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