The outdoors is gift to students Wolf Ridge honors Mr. Fuchs for 30 years of leadership

By Brenda Erdahl

Lots of fresh air and lots of hiking. That’s Steve Fuchs’ gift to his students every spring when he and the sixth-grade class at Maple Lake Elementary School set out for the North Shore.

Some 250 miles away, the Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center sits on 2,000 acres of wilderness south of the Boundary Waters looking over Lake Superior’s North Shore and the kids make use of almost every inch of it.

From ziplining, to rock climbing to learning about animal habits and how to better take care of the environment, it’s a three-day adventure they don’t easily forget.

For 30 years, Fuchs has led this expedition (it would have been 32 if not for COVID) and during that time’s he’s seen multiple students return as adults to volunteer as chaperones, sometimes more than once, that’s how much they enjoy the experience. And as any parent of an MLE sixth grader knows, it’s not easy to get the kids to stop talking about it either.

Maple Lake teacher Steve Fuchs has been bringing sixth grade students to the Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center in northern Minnesota for the last 30 years. This spring he was recognized by the center for his leadership.