Students get a taste of nature through Outdoor School

Sixth graders from all PPS schools — about 3,500 in all — will enjoy six days of Outdoor School this academic year, learning in the natural environment. The program, often on the chopping block during tough budget times, was easier to maintain this year thanks to Metro’s dedication of $57 per attending student regionwide. That commitment, combined with parent fees, dedicated fundraising and Portland Public Schools support (including scholarships for lower-income families), kept the program whole.
    
Students observe natural processes and conduct labs in daily “field studies,” heading out of doors to learn no matter the weather, said Dan Prince, coordinator of Outdoor Schools for the Multnomah Education Service District. Students also learn critical life lessons, gaining confidence, poise and independence as many of them spend their first extended time away from their families.

Asked what they would tell future Outdoor School students about the experience, a few Laurelhurst K-8 School sixth-graders shared these thoughts:

• “I learned so much about water. We were like real scientists studying pH, turbidity, DO (dissolved oxygen) and other things. We even created a miniature Milk Creek, including an eddy.”
• “Outdoor School is an amazing and incredibly fun experience. It will change your life. You will grow fond of the staff and your student leaders; you will experience other sides of your fellow classmates.”
• “I thought I was going to be super homesick, but you know what, it was the best week ever!”

For this final week of fall Outdoor School, students from da Vinci Arts and Robert Gray middle schools and Skyline and Arleta K-8 schools traveled to five camps in Molalla and on the Sandy and Salmon rivers.

Metro Councilor Rex Burkholder, a former high school science teacher, pushed for $1.4 million to support the program in the Metro budget.

“Several school districts in the region — from Beaverton to North Clackamas — were able to participate for the first time in Outdoor School because of this funding,” Burkholder reports. “Others were able to increase the length of their programs by a day, and still others would have had to cancel if funding was not provided.”

Burkholder continues: “Our partnership with the Outdoor School providers and school districts is an exciting one. With the challenges of climate change, peak oil and dwindling resources facing us, our young people, more than ever, need to be scientifically and environmentally literate. Outdoor School is invaluable and irreplaceable in reaching our 'hopes for the future' with the broad message of environmental stewardship.”

Friends of Outdoor School welcomes contributions to the cause. For more information, contact Dan Prince, dprince@mesd.k12.or.us, 503-257-1618, or Rex Burkholder, rex.burkholder@oregonmetro.gov, 503-797-1546.

At Portland Public Schools, this is our goal: By the end of elementary, middle, and high school, every student by name will meet or exceed academic standards and will be fully prepared to make productive life decisions. For more information on Portland Public Schools, call 503-916-3304, e-mail us at pubinfo@pps.net, or visit www.pps.k12.or.us. Portland Public Schools is an equal opportunity educator and employer.