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Gearity Takes Learning Outdoors Thanks to Boot Donation
Feb. 6, 2019 -- Gearity Professional Development School takes full advantage of the large piece of land it sits on. The school has student-managed gardens, a hoop house, a composting area, a pizza oven, and an outdoor learning space. 

As a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) school, students spend time connecting their curriculum to the great outdoors every month of the year. Which in Cleveland means they can get very, very dirty.

Thankfully, building STEM Coordinator Jackie Taylor submitted a request to Western Chief, a boot company founded in Seattle in the 19th century. Western Chief, as part of their Wear A Big Smile foundation, came through with a donation of 60 pairs of rain boots. The boots are in a variety of sizes and are shared by all the building’s students. As classes go outdoors, students are invited to select a pair, thus saving their own footwear -- and the building’s floors -- from wet mud.

Ms. Taylor is thrilled to have removed this one obstacle to her students’ education. “Now we can go outside and learn in all kinds of weather.”