Hemphill Elementary School is the first school in Birmingham to be certified as an official Outdoor Classroom site through the Alabama Outdoor Classroom Program, providing a model for other schools across the state who would like to develop an outdoor classroom on their school grounds for hands-on learning opportunities. In addition, Hemphill Elementary has been certified as an official National Wildlife Federation Schoolyard Habitat® school.

Hemphill Elementary School's Outdoor Classroom Dedication Ceremony was held on Tuesday, May 6, at 1:00 p.m. to celebrate the school's accomplishments. Dr. Gwendolyn Tilghman, Principal, and Sharon Pollard, 1st grade teacher and Hemphill Elementary's Outdoor Classroom Coordinator, spoke about the history of their Outdoor Classroom, and then Hemphill students read poems they wrote inspired by the outdoor classroom area. At the end of the ceremony, the Alabama Wildlife Federation and Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources representatives presented awards to the school for its achievements and commitment to conservation education. Following the ceremony, the media and other quest were invited to tour the Outdoor Classroom and take additional pictures.

The Alabama Outdoor Classroom Program, a partnership between the Alabama Wildlife Federation, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and Alabama Cooperative Extension System, provides technical assistance for schools who want to develop sustainable outdoor classroom sites and schoolyard wildlife habitats that can be utilized as effective teaching tools. Furthermore, the Outdoor Classroom Program provides hands-on, outdoor learning opportunities that allow students of all ages to utilize multidisciplinary skills (including math, science, history, geography, and language arts) in a fun and exciting environment.

Hemphill Elementary's outdoor classroom site includes a variety of raised bed gardens and learning stations that teachers use for hands-on activities with their students. Some of the raised bed gardens are used to study vermiculture, worms, and decomposers; the life cycle of butterflies; George Washington Carver and related agricultural crops such as peanuts, sweet potatoes, and cotton; and other topics related to the environment. In addition, Hemphill's outdoor classroom includes a small fish pond providing an essential water source for local wildlife along with a variety of plants and trees that provide important shelter and food sources as habitat for local wildlife and their young. Thus, the students have the opportunity to study wildlife and nature up­close in addition to what they learn from books. Funding and support for our outdoor classroom project came from the Alabama Wildlife Federation, Briarwood Christian Church, Baptist Medical Center- Princeton, Birmingham District 6 Councilor Patricia Alexander, Hemphill Elementary PTA, Birmingham Professional Fireman's Association, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Alabama, Nicole Rolling, Shirley Peoples, Vasha Rosenbloom, and West End-Arrington Neighborhood Association.

At present, over 140 schools across Alabama are developing outdoor classroom sites through the Alabama Outdoor Classroom Program.