Submitted photo Eric Diefenderfer’s seventh-grade science students who used the outdoor learning space at Boardman Glenwood Junior High School, from left, are Mosey Murray, Brady Harding, Sophia Soto Delisio and Sophia Barkey.

BOARDMAN — It takes a village to build an outdoor learning space as equipped as the one Glenwood Junior High students have been using this fall.

Their science teacher, Eric Diefenderfer, recently invited Mahoning County commissioners and representatives from Sam’s Club to see the outdoor classroom space that their donations helped to build.

The entire project was completed by the start of this school year, and cost more than $8,200. The commissioners contributed more than $2,300 in CARES Act pandemic relief money, and Sam’s Club donated $1,000 to buy materials. A $3,900 grant from the nonprofit GPD Foundation of Akron helped pay for the fencing and landscaping.

“We also received help from family and friends through Donors Choose donations, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,” Diefenderfer said. “A project like this costs more than you might think, but we were blessed to have it finished by this fall as the weather was great for the entire first nine weeks.”

Glenwood students helped to construct the turtle terrarium and built raised garden beds to plant wildflowers. Seventh-grader Tanner Dravecky also helped Diefenderfer build the shed that will store equipment over winter.

While the outdoor space is beneficial for science study, there’s even a grant component that’s functional as well as educational: a chance to see how clean energy works. A Jackery solar panel and portable power station was purchased from a grant through the Alternative Fuel Foundation. It will charge student devices and power an outdoor projector for classroom use.