On Dec. 12, The Swift Foundation gave a final bow as it presented its final three grants from the Allan Weinstein Swift 4 Kids Endowment. The theme of the night was longevity: even if Vancouver’s original philanthropic organization was calling it quits, the many projects it’s funded over the years will keep its legacy.

“You want to talk about longevity, there are buildings built like this from the 1300s still standing,” said Brandon Tauscher of Project Green Build at the event.

He was speaking of an ancient building technique called cordwood masonry, which will be used to create Clark County’s first green, outdoor classroom.

The Swift Outdoor Classroom project is a unique community collaboration between Columbia Springs, WSU-Vancouver’s At Home At School (AHAS) program, which provides after school and summer education for K-12 students who are homeless or living in transitional housing, and Project Green Build, a local non-profit with a stake in spreading green building in SW Washington. The classroom will be built on the Columbia Springs environmental education campus and will be used by 75,000 students annually, according to Columbia Springs Executive Director Gala Miller.

The types of materials used are not the only unique aspect of the project.

The $50,000 Swift grant will allow 75 AHAS participants the opportunity to participate in every aspect of the classroom’s creation. This month, the selected students will bus to an Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified forest, where they will choose which trees will be cut down and assist in the milling process of the lumber. The students will help construct the about-700-square-foot classroom this summer.

Using the cordwood technique, the classroom will use short logs (called “log ends”) laid up crossways to frame the walls, which will be filled in with mortar and will include decorative patterns designed by the students. The roof will be lightweight, planted with seedum and wildflowers grown by students prior to the building’s completion, Tauscher said.

“In the end, cordwood is esthetically pleasing, low in cost, environmentally sound, and so easy to build that a 4th grader could do it,” Tauscher said.

From inside the Swift Outdoor Classroom, students look out the windows and see only the natural environment they are learning about.

“It will have a nice tie into the ‘where do buildings come from,’ lessons,” Tauscher said.

Columbia Springs Development Director Alishia Topper said the classroom will likely also hold composting lessons and demonstrations, previously held in “the dungy old basement in the office building.” The project coordinators looked at several sites for the classroom to go on the campus, but the chosen wooded area is “a natural fit” for the classroom, Topper said.

For more information, contact Gala Miller at 882-0936, Brandon Tauscher at 635-2141 or Susan Finley (AHAS) at 546-9649.