The Fort Worth Independent School District has news to share – news as big as all outdoors.

The District is reopening the Truelson – Hightower Outdoor Learning Center.

For at least two generations of Fort Worth students, this rolling landscape of 228 acres on the northwest shore of  Eagle Mountain Lake has been the place where “city kids” learned first-hand about pioneer and native American life,  agricultural practices, natural resources, and wildlife. 

A few years ago the Center was closed for economic reasons.  However, the OLC has been refurbished and will once again be used regularly starting this fall.  With FWISD’s renewed emphasis on math and science, it is the perfect outdoor laboratory in which students can apply classroom skills in a real world setting.

This summer, Fort Worth ISD teachers have been busily preparing the OLC to serve students once again – and brushing up on their own skills as naturalist teachers.  One group of teachers was recently trained by Texas Christian University professors in science and education to lead field investigations.

On Monday, October 13, 2008, the District will host a rededication of the OLC, located at 494 CR 4869 in Azle, TX 76020. The rededication will begin at 10:00 a.m.

The landscape of the OLC is as varied and interesting as the state itself:  It is comprised of remnant prairie, rolling hills, western cross timbers, and river habitat. 

It was more than 35 years ago, that the generosity and vision of Ross Perot, Julius Truelson, Eugene Hightower and the Tarrant Regional Water District transformed this acreage into an outdoor classroom.  It was the original homestead of the Pope family, who moved to Texas from Tennessee in the mid-19^th century.