• Home
  • About
  • Calendar
  • Plant Database
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Board of Trustees Login

Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest

Become a Member Donate
  • Plan Your Visit
  • Trails and Maps
  • Programs and Events
  • Learn
  • Get Involved
You are here: Home / OUTSCHOOLED: Design to Revolutionize Outdoor Learning

OUTSCHOOLED: Design to Revolutionize Outdoor Learning

OUTSCHOOLED is Bernheim’s new design competition for creating innovative, affordable, practical, and healthy outdoor classrooms.

Basic Requirements
Designs must be capable of being realized for $5,000 (or less) in materials and include:

  • Shelter from inclement weather
  • Sturdy, practical materials
  • Good ventilation and light
  • ADA accessibility
  • Seating for 13 students with social distancing
  • Space for one teacher to present
  • Supply storage
  • Vertical or horizontal writing surfaces (not necessarily desks)

The most competitive candidates will have

  • Recycled, sustainably sourced, handmade, or natural materials
  • Sustainable features such as green roofs, planters, or rainwater collection
  • Incorporation of art, poetry, music, or other creative element
  • Flexible/modular design that easily permits modification or mobility
  • Expressions of a community’s tradition or identity
  • Accommodation for specific challenges or disabilities

Submission Format
Submissions can be digital or hand-drawn. They must be in color and include an overhead plan drawing, up to 3 drawings showing perspective and detail and a text describing:

  • The design idea
  • Construction technique with easy to follow instructions
  • Materials and dimensions
  • Maintenance needs
  • Budget

Eligibility and awards
Both amateur and professional designers can submit, and both team and individual designs are welcome. Top designs will receive cash prizes. All submissions will be publicly displayed.

Click Here to View Outschooled Terms and Conditions.

Timeline
Launch of competition: December 7, 2020

Submissions can be sent via this Slideroom link 

Deadline for submission: February 26, 2021

Announcement of winners: March 12, 2021

 

FAQs
Who can apply?
Anyone can apply. Applicants under 16 need to apply with an adult.

Will the designs be realized?
Bernheim does not currently have plans to realize the designs on-site, but we would like to in the future and will seek support to do so.

What will happen with the submitted designs?
We’ll compile and share the designs with the public so that schools, educators, families and communities will have access to them. Currently our plan is to share them digitally in the form of an online slideshow and a PDF design guide, but we will seek out other opportunities to share them too.

Does the budget have to include labor costs?
No, the budget is for materials only.


Creative and practical resources
Outdoor classroom project
Green Schoolyards America
Project Learning Tree
Green Schools National Network
New Atlas: What Schools of the Future Could Look Like

SUBMIT YOUR
OUTSCHOOLED ENTRY »

Thank you to our Corporate Partners!


Thank you to our Corporate Partners!

  • Kindred
  • Quest Outdoors
  • GE Appliances
  • Beam Suntory
  • Patagonia
  • Westrock
  • WMB
  • Luckett & Farley
  • Brown Forman

Sign up for our newsletter

  • Sign up and receive special information about our programs and events.
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

FOLLOW US

Copyright © 2019 Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest    |   Bernheim is an Arbnet level 4 certified garden
Privacy Policy | Policies and Guidelines | Research | Press Room  | Site Map