Wetlands Estonoa

Estonoa Learning Center

Place-based, Student-initiated Outdoor Learning Center

Wetlands Estonoa is a student initiated, place based, service learning project. It is the epitome of a school/community project. Once the Town's giant mud puddle, Estonoa was transformed into an environmental learning center thanks to student imagination, planning, and sweat equity.

​The Wetlands Estonoa Outdoor Learning Center has been in existence since 1999. The Center is owned by the Town of St. Paul yet managed by a group of dedicated area high school students known as Team Estonoa. The Center is an environmental education site that consists of outdoor and indoor classrooms. The vegetative green roof, rain garden, and native Appalachian flora arboretum are complimented by the three-fourth mile walking trail surrounding Wetlands Estonoa. The beautiful, log-sided building, finished in 2005, offers a large meeting space for environmental education, workshops, and citizen group meetings. Examples of visiting groups include: college groups (Ferrum, Georgetown University, and East Tennessee State), rain barrel & GLOBE Hydrology workshops, Upper Tennessee River Round Table and St. Paul High School Alumni meetings.

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Lake Estanoa
Another view of Lake Estanoa
Water Lillies on Lake Estanoa
Students Releasing Mussels back in the Clinch River
Students Learning about the Clinch River
Lake Estanoa Learning Center