Published: August 20, 2008 11:16 am         

Log cabin

Taking students back to basics

Hats off to Logansport High School science instructor Scott Johnson, who is literally taking his students back to basics.

Johnson is in the process of building a replica of the log cabin Henry David Thoreau built on Walden Pond in the 19th century.

Thoreau lived in his cabin for more than 2 years, exploring nature and writing the first draft of a book he titled “Walden.”

Johnson’s replica will sit in front of the Berry Patch, an outdoor learning laboratory across from the high school. Thoreau’s book helped to inspire an awareness and respect for nature, and Johnson is hoping to pass along to his students that same appreciation.

Johnson spent the summer building the cabin, and he hopes to finish it this fall.

The project wouldn’t have been possible, he said, without Ed Closson’s donation of 150-year-old barn timbers. The timbers had been sitting in the shed at Closson Lumber for 20 years.

Johnson and his students are building the cabin with traditional methods in mind. Many items have been donated, including a step that came from an old library.

The project has involved lots of people at the high school. Johnson’s science classes have been pitching in, and members of the football team helped to put up framing during the summer.

But no school funds are going into the project, and Johnson hopes to keep the total cost to $2,500.

The project is a gift to future generations of Logansport students. Johnson is hoping the cabin will be something others will be able to enjoy for years to come.

He’d like to see lots of his colleagues making use of the cabin, perhaps for story times or for nature-related classes. Maybe even history or social studies.

In some ways, the cabin is a philosophical statement. Johnson says his father always warned him about becoming owned by the things he owned. The elder Johnson was encouraging his son to lead a simpler life, free of many of the trappings of the modern world.

It’s a lesson we might all do well to remember.

This project is a great example of a teacher going above and beyond the call of duty in looking for ways to engage his students in learning some important lessons.

Thanks go out to Closson for donating the lumber. Thanks also to Johnson and to all of those who have pitched in to help in making his vision a reality.