An initiative to explore
outdoor learning spaces & experiences

About the project

Back on the eastern high ground of the Gates Mills campus, a wide field of wildflowers faces a treeline of maple, birch, pine, and crabapple.  On a fall day, honeybees work the asters and hawks core thermals overhead while crying; it’s not uncommon to see a buck or a group of turkeys pick a path through the grass and goldenrod. 

Started in the fall of 2020, an extraordinary coalition of students and faculty have come together to design and create several educational spaces throughout the woods and trails of the Hawken Upper School campus. In a back field and surrounding woods, you can find multiple fire pits, seating, and modest structures, student designed and student built. One structure, the 1/4 Barn, will serve as the seed for what we imagine as a center for outdoor education at Hawken, a learning space integrated with our natural resources that can serve many functions. It’s a lab for sustainable design, a field biology station, an outdoor performance space, an art studio, a retreat center, and a place where the community can come together. Most of all, it’s a tangible sign of our ability to come together and make a lasting difference.

Circle W Barn

The Hawken Barn was truly a staple of Hawken's identity, as well as an integral part of the Hawken community. The barn was used between 1973 to 1977 (when it burned down) as part of Hawken's Animal Husbandry course. This was a yearlong course which once signed up for under no circumstances could be dropped. Students taking this course would have to feed, provide water and maintain a clean environment for Hawken's 6 black angus cows for the entirety of the year- 7 days a week including vacations. Though a rigorous course, students loved it. It was a perfect example of Hawken's exemplary hands on approach to learning. Tragedy would strike in 1977 though, when on a windy day what was once Ohio's largest dairy barn would catch fire. Students and teachers alike were in awe and could do nothing to stop the ginormous flames consuming the barn, taking with it an important part of Hawken's history and community. Though torn apart, the community came together to put out fires which had spread to Hawken's woods, preventing this catastrophic fire from claiming any more of the Hawken campus which they loved. The Hawken Barn was a historic piece of Hawken's history and belief system, which we must guarantee is not forgotten. More about the Circle W. Barn

Courses & Classes

In addition to faculty, volunteers and family members, there are a number of students working on this project through several classes in the 2020-2022 school years.

2021 May Intensive - Barn Raising
2022 May Intensive - Barn Raising 2.o

9th Grade Physics & Structures - (Fall Intensive)
Fab Play Studio - Projects (Fall Intensive)
Prototyping and Design (Spring Course)
Engineering Macro (Spring Course)
Barn Raising (Spring Intensive)
Hawken Senior Project (Spring)
Fab Lab Interns
Stage Craft (Spring)
Outdoor Leadership

Support

The initiative has benefitted from a lead gift from the Schneider family, which has allowed us to study a range of options for the space (from a central large structure to a decentralized educational “village”) and to weather the fluctuations in building material prices. But the project is a long term one and needs a sustainable source of funding to reach its potential. Teachers and students imagine improved trail systems, a canopy walk, and the ability to build and maintain enough shelter to host multiple classes along the creek and in the field. We see the Hawken experience shifting from classes in a building surrounded by fields, streams and woods, to an education that includes circles around campfires, birding under the big beech trees, long discussions on long walks on the trails, and a sense of belonging to the wild and beautiful land we walk in. To date, over 100 students have touched this project in one way or another. With support, such experiences could become a standard part of every student’s time at Hawken.