At least some good has come from the rock slide that closed Interstate 40 in both directions at milemarker 3 in Haywood County Oct. 25.

At that time, the North Carolina Department of Transportation estimated it would take three months to get the highway open again. Of course that was before 25 inches of snow and 17 inches of rain fell in that area of the state in December, during which work not only was slowed but was discontinued for some time. Then, in late January, another slide dumped what DOT claimed was the equivalent of 50 dump truck loads onto I-40 at milemaker 6.5, covering an area 40 feet long and 50 feet wide.

The latest estimate is that the stretch of highway could reopen in April.

While all of that is distressing, to say the least, the slide site has become a “classroom” for dozens of college students from western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. McClatchy-Tribune News Service reports that geology and environmental sciences students from Western Carolina University, University of North Carolina at Asheville and East Tennessee State University are getting close-up looks at the site, explanations of what caused the slide and the challenges workers face in cleaning the roadway and stabilizing the remaining rock face, by installing hundreds of rock bolts on the slope.

That’s one field trip that should provide exceptional teaching opportunities and plenty of fodder for students’ resumes.