Earhart Environmental Magnet

Wichita’s Earhart Environmental Magnet School is an $8.3 million, environmentally conscious school that opened in the fall of 2008. This 60k+ square foot facility teaches 450 students, offering them a modern learning environment. But, believe it or not, the school started with much humbler beginnings.

The original North Riverside School served District 170 and was a small, two-room wood-frame structure located near 39th Street and Arkansas. It mostly served the farm children in the area.

Historical references to North Riverside School appear as early as 1912 in the Beacon and Eagle newspapers. One tragic event reported by the Eagle on February 7, 1946, involved 7-year-old Larry D. Mullins, who was killed instantly when a wheel flew off a truck and struck him. Sheriff Keith Moore described the incident as a “tragic unavoidable accident.” Mullins is buried at Wichita’s Maple Grove Cemetery.

In April 1947, the Eagle noted the community’s efforts to improve the school’s facilities, including decorating the basement with tables. However, these tables lacked proper tops until the Victory Home Demonstration Unit provided masonite tops. By 1952, the school had moved to an 11-acre site and expanded as the area grew. It continued to serve students from kindergarten through eighth grade, offering hot lunches due to the long distances some students had to walk.

On July 1, 1963, the district joined the Wichita Public School system, and the school was renamed Amelia Earhart in 1964 to honor the famous Kansas aviatrix. That year, students researched Earhart’s life and even created a life-sized print of her from a photograph provided by the Atchison Chamber of Commerce.

I found a good bio of Earhart and asked ChatGPT to rewrite it as a 3rd grade teacher telling her Kansas born students, Earhart’s story. This is what it came up with:

Hey class! Today, we’re talking about an amazing woman from Kansas named Amelia Earhart. Amelia was born on July 24, 1897, in Atchison, Kansas. She loved adventures even as a little girl! Amelia became super famous for being the first woman to fly all by herself across the Atlantic Ocean.

When she was young, Amelia’s family moved around a lot, and she finished high school in Chicago. She started college but left to help injured soldiers during World War I. After the war, she took her first airplane ride and knew she wanted to be a pilot. She worked hard, bought her first plane in 1921, and got her pilot’s license two years later.

Amelia made a big flight in 1928 and became an international star. She kept breaking records, like flying solo from Hawaii to California in 1935. Sadly, in 1937, she disappeared while trying to fly around the world. Her plane vanished near Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean, and nobody ever found her or her plane.

Even though she disappeared, Amelia Earhart is remembered for her bravery and for encouraging women to chase their dreams. She helped start a group for women pilots and showed everyone that girls can do anything they set their minds to.

The Beacon reported in April 1972 about a Board of Education grant that funded a workshop and ground-breaking ceremony for Earhart’s environmental program. The event featured the dedication of a flowering pear tree and introduced students to nature awareness through an outdoor classroom.

In 1977, Earhart became an environmental magnet school, developing an outdoor classroom area divided into natural vegetation, picnic, and formal garden sections. This transformation allowed students to engage with nature and learn about environmental science firsthand.

In 1993, the Eagle reported on the renaming of the school’s pond to Carriker Pond in honor of Principal Bill Carriker, who served the school for many years. Carriker humorously remarked, “Most of the time you have to wait till you’re dead to have something named after you.”

As part of the 2000 bond issue, Earhart Environmental Magnet received a new state-of-the-art building. Construction was completed in November 2008, and on November 12, students packed up their desks in the old school and walked to the new facility. The old building was demolished to make room for parking and outdoor learning spaces, with care taken to minimize impact on existing trees and plants.

The new school boasts numerous environmentally friendly features, including large windows for natural lighting, preferred parking for fuel-efficient vehicles, recycling alcoves, a neighborhood recycling center, an outdoor courtyard, and a water reservoir system. The curriculum emphasizes environmental awareness through field trips, lab studies, and camping experiences. According to the school’s website, camping is a key part of the curriculum, providing students with memorable educational experiences.

A notable feature of the school is its beautiful campus, which includes the Carriker pond, a bee farm, a chicken coop, and a disc golf course. I think this might be the only school in Wichita with a disc golf course.

I met Erika Gurnsey, an teacher from Robinson Middle School who was working with fifth graders on a mural. She was painting the trees and the quotes, and the students would add their own leaves to the trees.

To learn about Wichita’s other educational facilities check out Be True To Your School.