By Amy White
The Texas Catholic
PLANO — A mural of Our Lady of Guadalupe smiled upon the congregating Prince of Peace Catholic School students as they pooled into the school’s new Guadalupe Outdoor Classroom for its formal dedication on May 6. Each entering with a flower in hand, the students laid their bright blossoms one by one before the image of the Blessed Mother — officially turning over a new leaf for outdoor education at the Plano school.
The newly dedicated Guadalupe Outdoor Classroom is the fruit of almost a year and a half of dreaming and planning, according to members of the school community, who said POP President Faustin Weber proposed the idea to the 2025 Prince of Peace Gala committee.
“To try to provide a space where teachers could take kids outside, they could breathe some fresh air but still continue with their studies, that was the original inspiration for this idea,” Weber said. “Kids these days spend an awful lot of time indoors … Getting outside and breathing fresh air is healthy for them and, from time to time, for their teachers who are in the class with them.”
With financial support from the gala committee, as well as from The Catholic Foundation and a generous POP family, the project — which would total more than a quarter of a million dollars, according to Weber — began to take root.
‘Bright and colorful’
Bordered by classrooms, the Guadalupe Outdoor Classroom is located in an interior courtyard on campus. Stone benches, a wooden platform, and a set of large, boldly-painted steps offer space for students to sit and crack open a book, puzzle over worksheets, or listen to the day’s lessons while enjoying some sunshine and fresh air. The area is canopied by trees and accented with perky flowers of white, purple, and yellow. A collection of planters already serves as home to lima beans, tomatoes, basil plants, and other forms of botanical life.
On one wall of the outdoor classroom, a mural of Our Lady of Guadalupe features prominently. Painted by POP parent Ana Lopez, the vibrant mural depicts Our Lady, surrounded by hues of blue and green, alongside a spray of butterflies in flight — a nod to the courtyard’s past life as a butterfly garden.
“Every time I was doing a butterfly or a star on the Virgin’s mantle, I prayed for each one of the kids: that they grow during school, that their love for Mary grows,” Lopez said. “She is another mother that can guide us through all our school years.”
Hilary Hamrick, an art teacher at Prince of Peace who was consulted about color choices in the outdoor classroom, praised Lopez’s artwork.
“It’s bright and colorful,” the teacher said. “She put so much effort into it, and it’s such a blessing for us.”
Digging deeper
Through its Guadalupe Outdoor Classroom, Prince of Peace seeks to sow seeds of curiosity and imagination in its students, according to members of the school; and, for some, that work of cultivating minds in the great outdoors is already at work.
“We’ve got some classes already that have started planting things, watching things grow, and testing — kind of doing little science experiments out there,” Weber said.
Hamrick, for her part, said she plans to utilize the space from time to time for her art classes.
“I plan on having them go out there and do brainstorming sketches on certain projects,” she said. “When you go outside … your mind can wander a little bit further; and there’s a more relaxed, calm atmosphere out there.”
Emily Frasco, a teacher for the gifted and talented program on campus, shared that her students have started getting their hands dirty in the new space by transplanting a hydroponic garden from their classroom into the outdoor planters. Already, a slew of sprouts has emerged.
“We’ve put out there some different water meters so that they can check the moisture of the soil,” Frasco said. “They’re able to kind of explore and see the fruits of their labor, to be able to watch them grow.”
Rather than students being cooped up in a conventional classroom, the teacher added, the Guadalupe Outdoor Classroom allows her pupils to explore their education in a new way: by converting classroom concepts into hands-on learning.
“They’ve really loved digging in the dirt,” she said, “and there’s just so much learning that can come from it.”
As students and teachers continue to revel in the educational opportunity that the Guadalupe Outdoor Classroom provides, Weber said he hopes the space will also be a place for Prince of Peace pupils to encounter God through creation.
“I think any time you’re outside and you’re becoming more aware of your environment, you’re also becoming more aware of God’s providence, God’s beauty,” he said.
Cutline for featured image: Prince of Peace Catholic School Principal Meghan Jones, far left, and Father Michael Forge, the pastor of Prince of Peace Catholic Parish, far right, smile for a photo on May 6 with the artist who created the Our Lady of Guadalupe mural in POP’s Guadalupe Outdoor Classroom, Ana Lopez, second to left. Lopez is joined in the photo by family members Sergio Perez, David Perez, and Sofia Perez. (AMY WHITE/The Texas Catholic)
