Under the Zacchaeus tree: Outdoor classes during COVID-19

Home Features Under the Zacchaeus tree: Outdoor classes during COVID-19

Thanks to COVID-19, Associate Professor of English Patricia Bart’s students get to enjoy the outdoors while learning about great books. 

“I just decided, until we have to be driven in, let’s just sit outside,” she said. “I’m not overly worried about getting coronavirus myself or other people getting it. But I figure, why get it?” 

In August, Bart gave her students the heads up that class would be outside as long as weather permitted. 

“I didn’t want to have to have people wearing masks while still keeping any risk as low as possible,” Bart said. “If there’s any hard science that seems to be consistent, it’s that you’re not going to catch it outside.” 

Though the temperature begins to drop, Bart said as long as students wear the appropriate attire, they’ll be fine. 

“It’s a small price to pay for freedom to know that there’s such a little chance that we’re going to get sick from this,” she said. “As long as people dress as though it’s for a football game, they’re fine.”

Bart usually uses GroupMe to poll her students to decide whether or not to have class inside or outside. On days it’s rained, the class has gone inside. 

“If it’s edging toward 45, I feel the temperature of the students as well as the outside atmosphere,” she said. 

The first part of the semester, though, brought enjoyable weather and, during one class, the opportunity to interact with the wildlife on campus. 

“We were visited by this black squirrel,” Bart said. “The squirrel came up and sat in the horseshoe that the students make around me. It suddenly became self-conscious and ran up the branch on the tree right next to us. We called him Zacchaeus.” 

Now student sit under the tree, named the Zacchaeus Tree, for all of Bart’s classes. That is, until the weather starts to drop — or Bart’s nemesis, the lawn mowers and leaf blowers of campus, drive her inside. 

“We’ve had struggles where I’ve had to talk over lawn mowers and leaf blowers who seem attracted to our class,” she said. “I actually made my voice hoarse talking over them for two and a half hours.” 

Since students received notice of Bart’s policy, the response has been positive. 

“People generally like the class outside,” junior Elena Naborowski, who attends Bart’s class, said. 

Junior Soren Moody said he has enjoyed class outside despite the interruptions from Hillsdale groundskeepers. 

“While it’s fun to joke about Zacchaeus, our curious squirrel friend, having class outside allowed us to unmask and connect better with one another,” Moody said. “COVID-19 or no, it seems more fitting to study truth when surrounded by the beauty of God’s fall foliage.”