Not One, but TWO Huge Property Donations!

“Then—faintly, I heard voices of children somewhere out in the woods behind the house. Lots of laughter!” Jeff recalled. “I just followed my ears and found that both classes of second graders were starting a hike out to the far west end of the property. I wasn’t exactly prepared for hiking in my dress pants and shoes, but who could resist this opportunity?! The kids marched two-by-two through the woods, passed ponds and creeks, with teachers interspersed amongst them.

“The kids were well behaved and obviously excited. It wasn’t a short hike! When we finally stopped we were in a dune-type sandy area. Another beautiful spot! The kids dropped their backpacks and circled up around the teachers eagerly awaiting instructions. This day was the day they would learn how to put up their [reading] hammocks. The teachers did a great job and as the students spread out and were finding their ideal hammock hanging spots, I turned and made my way back to the house and my car.”

Four years ago Holland Christian was gifted 10 acres of land with a house on it southwest of the main HC campus—what we now know and love as Sassafras Ridge—while also being allowed to use the surrounding 50+ acres of wild property. “It is an amazing piece of property and our second graders in Forest School are absolutely loving having school out there,” Jeff added.

However, with a growing Forest School program, space-locked Forest School cabins on HC’s campus, and the whole preK-12th grades becoming more proficient in outdoor immersed education, Holland Christian could actually use more wild space. An HC admin team explored how to best help Forest School continue to grow and thrive, including possible additional space at Sassafras Ridge to perhaps “create a center a bit further off the road with maybe four cabins and some parking and a place for buses to turn around,” Jeff said.

Underlying this interest is one thing we’ve learned over the last seven years of Forest School: that there is a difference between what kind of outdoor learning kids do. We are seeing more benefits in what is being called “nature immersion learning” vs simply learning outside—though that is also beneficial. We’re discovering that kids learn best by exploring freely, seeing God at work in a myriad of ways by uncovering bugs and buds and tree bark, measuring and climbing and identifying trees, tapping for maple syrup, making fires and shelters, constructing dams in the creeks.

So after a significant conversation and investigation, a donor who wishes to remain anonymous generously decided to gift the entire 45+ surrounding acreage to Holland Christian Schools to continue to promote and foster our outdoor learning programs!

So after a significant conversation and investigation, a donor who wishes to remain anonymous generously decided to gift the entire 45+ surrounding acreage to Holland Christian Schools to continue to promote and foster our outdoor learning programs!

“With more land, Forest School can offer longer, more immersive learning experiences across multiple habitats—woodlands, meadows, and dune lands—allowing children to return to the same spaces over time and develop a sense of belonging, stewardship, and wonder,” Miska Rynsburger, Forest School principal and outdoor coach, emailed. “The land creates room for unhurried learning, deeper curiosity, and seasonal rhythms that are foundational to how young children learn best.”

So when you’re given over 45+ acres to allow your over 1600 students access to do that kind of learning, it gets our outdoor education geeks over the moon over here! And super excited about how our students can best learn and care for the property. Besides the fact that it is a beautiful piece of God’s creation:

“I’ve had the opportunity to be out on this property a number of times over the years and have marveled at its beauty, its peaceful open areas around small lakes, and its rolling hills through the forest. It really is a natural wonderland!” Jeff Pett remarked. “For us to now own over 55+ acres here is an amazing gift! The lessons that can be planned for the students in so many possible locations over the next 50 years are countless.”

“Sassafras Ridge is a shared gift for the entire Holland Christian community, preschool through high school,” Miska continued. “While Forest School will use the property most frequently, students across all grades will engage in learning experiences connected to science, social studies, art, physical education, service learning, and spiritual formation.

We are so grateful for the donor’s generosity and vision for the future of Holland Christian Forest School! Now we can dream big and start the planning process to properly integrate this new asset into our long range plans for Forest School! We could not be more excited!

Add to all this a second extremely generous anonymous donation that allowed Holland Christian to purchase a house and surrounding 1.77 acres formerly known as the “Wolters House” from Laketown Township in December. Holland Christian had previously leased the house with a creek in its front yard and an acre of largely undeveloped woods abutting the Wolters Woods township park, from the township the 23-24 school year to use as an outdoor education hub. We are thrilled to now own the property ourselves, which we are affectionately calling “Cedar Creek”!

Renovations in the yard and in the house interior have already begun in order to accommodate our new Forest School Young Fives program that HC is starting with the continued partnership of the Outdoor Discovery Center (ODC). With the property’s proximity to our main HC campus, preexisting outbuildings that can house bikes, a creek running nearby, and a large variety of trees, plants and animals to discover on the property you can just imagine how our outdoor education brains are turning!