Students and faculty from North Country Community College and Paul Smith’s College have finished construction of an outdoor classroom at North Country’s Saranac Lake campus.

Located on a hill behind Hodson Hall, the outdoor classroom features a large lean-to and a half-dozen long pine benches. All the timber for the project was cut from Paul Smith’s College property.

Last year, work study students at Paul Smith’s cut cedar posts and members of North Country’s Environmental Club milled the pine boards for the benches, which were installed by volunteer work crews from both colleges.

The lean-to construction took place over one day this fall. A Paul Smith’s crew hauled the logs to the site, and students from both colleges worked together to peel the bark from the logs, cut them to size and move them into place.

The two colleges have agreements in several academic programs that allow North Country graduates to transfer to Paul Smith’s to complete their bachelor’s degree. Earlier this year, the colleges signed another agreement that allows NCCC students to pay state-level tuition rates to continue their education at Paul Smith’s.

For more information about North Country Community College, visit their website.

For more information about Paul Smith’s College, visit their website.

Photo: The outdoor classroom on the Saranac Lake campus of North Country Community College, provided.