I wrote this to the school district at the end of a week at Outdoor School in an attempt to explain why they should save the program. It's a bit long, but the more people can learn about the program, the better.
It is 11:00pm on Thursday night, and here I sit at Outdoor School. The 6th graders are long in bed and the high school students are foregoing sleep yet again to make tomorrow extra special. I’m a 6th grade teacher, a former ODS student leader, and a former ODS 6th grader. I fight for this program for my students because I believe in it. I get to watch my students who struggle in the classroom become successful here. I get to watch my students learn to open up to new experiences and new friendships. I believe in the difference it makes for my students and for these high school students. All week these sophomores, juniors and seniors have given all their energy to make sure my 6th graders have an unforgettable, educational experience. Outdoor School is truly unforgettable - more than 20 years ago a couple high schoolers known as “Squirrel” and “Etiole” made my week amazing. Ask around at a gathering and anyone who grew up in Portland will immediately tell you their memories - what camp they went to, who the student leaders and staff were, and what they remember. Yes, we remember how cool it was to hang out with high school students when we were so young, and we remember singing songs and putting mud on our faces, but the learning goes much beyond that. I still remember that it was 6th grade and Outdoor School behind my understanding of vertebrates and invertebrates, exoskeletons, oxbows and pH. I still remember that the girls in my cabin taught me to dance and befriended the insecure, shy me. I have as many memories of that week as of the rest of my grade school years combined. I fight for this program because of the memories it makes and the relationships it builds.
Beyond the 6th grade, the change it makes in these high school students is amazing. I know that being a student leader helped me grow in my confidence and strengthened my belief that I should be a teacher. I know that these high school students I see before me are students I want to see leading my community in the years to come. This week they have left behind the comforts of home; their friends, their families, their cell phones, their computers, their iPods… and they have come to share their energy and enthusiasm with these 6th graders to make sure that a group of 12 years olds they have never met have the week of their lives. They are thoughtful, compassionate, selfless, open, creative, enthusiastic, ambitious young men and women. They will spend the next weeks catching up on their schoolwork and their sleep. They will try to explain to their peers why they are different; they will try to explain to their families how they have grown up this week, and the words will never be enough. They are inspired to become teachers and scientists, actors and nurses, but confident that they can be successful in whatever they choose. I fight for this program for my 6th graders, but I fight for this program for these students as well.
The staff here will continue to work after the high school students head back to bed. In addition to teaching a full curriculum in a day on their various field studies, they mentor the high school students and evaluate each of them. They build their confidence and help them grow into the best leaders they can be. The staff live on site for about 6 months a year, and sacrifice many of the comforts of home as well as sleep, privacy and quiet time. They are enthusiastic and easy to work with; adapting to different high school student leaders, different 6th graders, and different teachers each week. They do dishes, they comfort homesick kids, they make up songs, and they constantly strive to make Outdoor School better. They are knowledgeable and creative and always full of energy. Many of them will move on from this program to become teachers, some will continue school in the sciences, some will move in a completely different direction, but all will contribute to making our world a better place. I fight for this program to support their sacrifices.
My week at Outdoor School will reinvigorate me as a teacher, as it always does. I will have a better relationship with my students. I will refer back to this week on a regular basis, discussing adaptations and habitats, and reminding them to learn with the enthusiasm and curiosity they showed in the forest. Together we will build on the community we developed this week, looking beyond ourselves and our lives to improve the world for everyone. It is so hard to put into words the difference it makes for all of us. My students will get off that bus in a few hours exhausted, dirty, and grinning from ear to ear, ready to share this unforgettable experience with anyone who will listen.
Not enough of my tax dollars go to education, and I’d like the ones that do to go into this program. Every 6th grader should get to experience this program, not just those whose parents can afford to pay.
I saw children's lives changed time after time both high school students and the grade school students they were teaching and mentoring. Connections were made between students who weren't even talking when they arrived, and studies they thought they had no interest in came alive and learning became an exciting adventure. I saw high school students arrive afraid to talk leave full of self confidence and a belief that they really could do things well. For some students it was their first experience at being successful at anything,
I've had the honor of experiencing this program through several different lenses.
As a sixth grade student, I jumped into Outdoor School knowing close to nothing about it. All I knew to expect was a week in the woods with some kids I had been going to school with for just over a month. The experience I had that week is one I will never forget.. I had never gone to summer camp, and this was my first time sleeping in a cabin, smelling kinda funny, and getting dirty on purpose. It was liberating, in a way.
Four years later, I packed up my bags and fulfilled a promise I made to myself back in sixth grade..to return as a Student Leader. The second I stepped off that bus, I knew I was home. I spent five weeks (I intended six, but unfortunately a conflict with my grades and schedule during my senior year did not allow for my final week.) over three years out at Camp Namanu, the same site I explored back when I was a newcomer.
While I do still remember plenty of environmental facts (mostly about soil, which is what I taught during my time there.) and beautiful, meaningful songs, what I will remember the most about Outdoor School is the culture of radical inclusion. No matter who you are, Outdoor School is a place for you to be exactly who that is. Or, if you're not who you want to be, Outdoor School can be a safe place to be that person you're striving towards. That's what appealed to me in sixth grade, and what kept me sane in high school. I always knew that no matter what I was going through, that week of Outdoor School was waiting for me.
Now, a 2013 graduate, I'm no longer eligible to serve as a Student Leader. However, I've moved on to serve as Friends of Outdoor School's first youth representative board member. I'm excited to shape this role into what it may look like, and even more excited to see what other people will do with it.
Everything I know about community, leadership, and civic duty can be traced back to this program. As a sixth grade student, Outdoor School was a place that made me feel like I could be an example for my peers. It provided a safe environment for me to learn and grow, free from all of the distractions that modern life has to offer. As a high school volunteer, I realized the positive impact I could make on the community.
As a continual volunteer, I saw the good this program does. Children learn not only environmental skills, but are exposed to a different way of life. I am certain that this program is one of the reasons Portland itself is an exceptional place to live.
Friends of Outdoor School works to create a lasting future for a program essential to the education of our students. Lives are changed, skills are learned, and people are inspired.
I have worked with the staff who are savvy about fundraising as well as passionate about the cause. Resources are used wisely, and much of the work is done by volunteers.
I am honored to be a part of this wonderful organization.
As a student leader for Outdoor School, I got the chance to experience the positive changes a week of outdoor school can make not only in the lives of the sixth graders, but in the lives of the other student leaders as well. I grew up in a school district that did not offer outdoor school to its sixth grade students and therefore didn't have any idea about the program at all. Not until my junior year of high school did I really get involved with the program. I was a four time student leader and every week I went out changed me and made me into a better person. I was able to mature and learn how to become a better leader and role model. I learned how to push myself outside of my comfort zone and really find who I am as a person. The sixth grade students I had the pleasure of working with made me realize how much my volunteering made an impact in their lives. My most memorable experience will always be when my first week one of the girls in my cabin told me that after coming to this week of outdoor school that she learned it is ok to be yourself and that your true friends will like you for who you are. Sometimes I feel like I learned more from those kids then they could ever learn from me. Outdoor school made such a positive impact in my life and really helped me to become the person that I am today.
I was a student leader (volunteer) at outdoor school 6 times during my high-school tenure. I had always known I was going to come back as a student leader as I was practically raised at summer camps but nothing I ever experienced was comparable to being a volunteer at outdoor school. I cannot put into words how important outdoor school was for my maturity and I cannot possibly explain how much I miss it. After every week I would have at least four kids talk to me about how much outdoor school had changed their lives, saying things like "I never knew that science could be so much fun" or "I never knew that I could be such a leader" or "I will never forget this place". Outdoor school is an incredible education program, not only in academics, but beyond anything else, outdoor school is an education program about community. Everyone who I have ever worked with/taught to at outdoor school left that week feeling more able to handle the responsibility of being a global citizen, and that is something that I personally will never, ever forget.
Friends of Outdoor school provided the opportunity for me to be a student leader for outdoor school with sixth graders, which was such a great gift to me. As a student leader I gained lots of confidence that I didn't have and came to believe that I am capable of doing great things. Learning to lead, teach, and speak in front of other was something I believed I couldn't do, but outdoor school pushed me out of my comfort zone and taught me that I am capable of overcoming these fears. I love the family-like environment of outdoor school, I love the new things I get to learn there every time, I love the friends I make, and I love the accomplishments I come home with which help give me confidence for the years to come. Outdoor school gave me challenges, than helped me step by step accomplish these challenges so that I learn and gain confidence in myself. I have also been very inspired at outdoor school. I am excited to try new volunteer opportunities and have a learning attitude towards the things I do. I continue to volunteer at camps where while I teach and lead other I myself learns many good life lessons. As an art lover I have made a maple leaf out of metal in my jewelry class as a special memory of a time when we were walking back with the sixth graders and staff from field study and the maple leafs were flowing down all around like snow flakes. Than in calligraphy I made a magical art piece containing the words from the Magic Penny song which is the special song we sing at outdoor school, that piece won the first place award for the student calligraphy in the Oregon State Fair. In my case, as a shy Ukrainian girl, my outdoor school experiences made such a positive difference in my life. I carry so many special memories that I have gained there. Everyday I give to others because outdoor school has given me the opportunity to see the reward of living unselfishly. It has also taught me better child management tools which I get to use with my younger siblings. Outdoor school has truly planted a handful of positive seeds in me which are growing day by day benefiting myself as well as others.