Kissing banana slugs, making name tags out of wood cookies, and sleeping in cabins.
In other words, Outdoor Ed.
Most students go to Outdoor Ed, specifcally Jones Gulch, in fifth grade to experience what it’s like to be away from parents for a week and to have fun in nature. As a high schooler, students receive a second chance to return to Jones Gulch, but this time as cabin leaders.
When going back to Outdoor Ed as a cabin leader, students have a chance to build leadership skills while watching over the campers for a week. During the stay, cabin leaders go on hikes, to the beach, and to a farm with their campers.
However, attending this camp also means missing a week of school, which for some, is manageable.
“For me, it wasn’t difficult to handle missing school because I did all of my work ahead of time. I asked a lot of my teachers what we had to do, and the two weekends before that, I did all of my AP Euro outlines and all of my French homework,” said Andrea Brehovska, a junior who was a cabin leader last year.
Outdoor Ed is fun for everyone involved, and for students, it’s a great way to learn life skills in a stress-free environment.
Emily Snelling, a senior, said, “I have really great memories from going there as a fifth grader, and since I’m a senior, I’ll finally have time second semester to do it.”
Some things aren’t learned through school, but rather through experiences. Outdoor Ed is helping teens break away from school life and learn something new by allowing them to focus on their natural surroundings instead of books.
“You get a new perspective on nature because we’re always so consumed with living in a vast city life and being consistently with technology,” said Sahana Srinivasan, a junior and ASB member.
During Outdoor Ed, cabin leaders are in charge of a group of kids, but they also get to meet other cabin leaders.
“You get to bond with people which is always good because we’re so used to being with the people we’re comfortable with, so this is a new experience being with people you haven’t talked to or met before,” Srinivasan said.
