My school’s vision statement calls for “schedules and spaces that fit learning.” This weekend I came across this sculpture hewn out of a former pine tree. The barred owls were kind enough to hoot an idea to me.

When a tree falls on campus, or when it is determined that one must be felled, we cut it down to the stump, grind the stump, and landscape over the scar left behind. What if we leave the stump and ask students to make some decisions?

Is the space right for a piece of “natural” furniture? Or a sculpture? And if so, what must be done to the stump to ward off rot? What physical and chemical processes does a dead tree undergo? At the very least we have two courses of study integrating here, and that’s just what the barred owls and I have come up with…

Any other ideas? Comments and ideas are welcome, because I’m going to begin harassing people at school shortly.

By the way, I’m posting from the WordPress iPhone app for the first time, so if something doesn’t look right, that’s why.