Over the summer, the Romeo Community Archives acquired items donated by the Amanda Moore Elementary School.
They included scrapbooks, directories, class photos, etc., and they are now part of the Amanda Moore Elementary School Collection. One of the most interesting aspects of said collection is the documents related to the Outdoor Science Center located on the school's property. This includes the photo seen here.
Even though it's not clear when this picture was made, we know that it's part of a photo series taken of the land around the early 1990s. They were placed on a few sheets, which were laminated. This is likely why there's a line break in the image itself.
It shows the park pavilion, which would have been the place, in which kids from various schools in the Romeo Community School District, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and community environmental groups would have gone for outdoor events.
What's truly fascinating about the science center was that the land was donated to the district's Foundation for Educational Excellence by Jerry and Sharon Freeman. They lived near the school's property, and on top of that, they were teachers in the Romeo Community Schools. The Freemans gave three-fourths of an acre of their land "in appreciation of the excellent educational opportunities [their] children [had] enjoyed" in the school district.
They tried to donate the land in 1981, but the district rejected their offer at that point because they didn't want to expand the boundaries of Amanda Moore Elementary. The property was later accepted in December 1986 as part of the Foundation's "goal of responding to the unique needs of both the school and community" according to its official statement about the acquisition.
The Foundation had many programs in mind, including creating an outdoor science center "in order to enhance science curriculums in the school district and to provide the students with 'hands-on' learning opportunities."
By 1990, the land increased to 1.2 acres. It was also that same year, in which a committee comprised of teachers from various schools and naturalists began to develop the center. This would take a few years. The reason why I suspect that the photo seen above was taken in the early 1990s is because documents from the collection show that the park pavilion was completed in 1992. The entire center was finished by the end of the following year.
The Amanda Moore School Outdoor Science Center was dedicated on Wednesday, October 27, 1993. This involved a speech from William O. Stidham - Principal at the time - and a tour.
Students and various community groups used the outdoor center for nearly 30 years until the COVID-19 pandemic occurred. It still exists, but it hasn't been used in the last four years.
Maybe one day, the Amanda Moore School Outdoor Science Center will rise again to fulfill the unique needs of the Romeo community.
To learn more about the Amanda Moore School Outdoor Science Center, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890 to see the Amanda Moore Elementary School Collection in person.
Images and sources courtesy of the Romeo Community Archives; Amanda Moore Elementary School Collection, 1981-1993