Above: Principal Randall of Woodward School helps dedicate the new outdoor classroom to his former boss. (Photo by Beth Melo)
Yesterday, Woodward school and the Southborough Education Foundation cut the ribbon on a new outdoor classroom. Actually, the cutting was done by retired Superintendent Dr. Charles Gobron.
Gobron was surprised yesterday with the dedication of the classroom in his honor. Woodward Principal James Randall explained that when the school looked at the cost of building an outdoor classroom, they realized it was more than they could afford. So they turned to SEF:
To our surprise and delight, [SEF] loved the idea and wanted to expand on our request. But there was one catch. Would we be willing to dedicate it to Dr. Charles Gobron?. . .
We couldn’t think of a more deserving person to dedicate this beautiful space to.
Current Superintendent Christine Johnson expounded,
It’s truly fitting that it’s in an outdoor classroom and it’s in a beautiful garden, because for forty-something years, Dr. Gobron has planted the seed of knowledge in all of our students.
SEF’s Cathy Cook expounded that the SEF board members were very excited to be able to dedicate something “so permanent” to Dr. Gobron.
Earlier this year, SEF’s grant announcement explained the purpose of the learning space:
The 2nd and 3rd grade curriculum touches on the water cycle, astronomy, weather, etc., so this space will be used frequently for science instruction, but can also be available for cross-curricular instruction.
