Lansing Sun

The Ebersole Foundation has donated 80 acres of land next to the existing Ebersole Environmental Education Center to the Lansing School District for a major expansion of the center, the district board of education announced at its May 4 meeting. 

Located in Wayland and operated by the school district, the Ebersole Center provides yearlong classes for students, outdoor camping retreats and environmental science class experiments. The center is also open to the public for personal enjoyment and learning about nature. The center has been open since the late 1970s.

The center is financially supported by the Ebersole Foundation, whose mission is “to provide charitable, scientific, and educational support to the center." The foundation raises funds for "acquisition, capital improvements, stewardship activities, program development, and to subsidize the cost of attendance for Lansing School District students,” its website says.

"On behalf of all the trustees of the Ebersol Foundation, past and present and our hundreds of donors across the Lansing area and I mean hundreds. We are proud to donate the property to Lansing School District and the Vernon D. Ebersole Environmental Education and Conference Center," Old said at the meeting. "We are beyond delighted to present to you this deed to the foundation's 80 acres adjacent to the Ebersol Center, whose assessed valuation approaches $1 million in today's market and includes a small house, a pole barn, a dairy barn, a small pond, and various other ecological messages where Lansing students will learn more about their environment and their role in it."

"One of the few pandemic positives, if there were any, is that educators are again considering the best way to teach and utilize outdoor spaces to maximize learning for students, especially for students that live in urban areas," Ebersole Director Benjamin Botwinski said at the school board meeting. "There are far too few opportunities to learn outdoors and positively experience nature. While the existing Ebersole center campus was a wonderful place for students to learn about the natural world, it didn't lend itself to the agriscience, animal husbandry, food and land management opportunities like this farm property. We're anxious and excited to expand our programming offerings."

The donation of land increases the center's total size to 238 acres, Botwinski said. The site includes a 14-acre lake and diverse environments, including  wetlands and mature forests.