I’ve seen outdoor education take many forms throughout the United States.

We cowered from the snow and smog in a wigwam and tried to make fire with bow drills in Brooklyn Park in New York City. The students learned independence from the big city, as it bustled around them.

We cored apples and made our own paper, helping students gain independence from their parents as well as an appreciation of the outdoors in Rye, New York. An acre of nature is hard to come by in that area and is well sought after.

We went hellbender hunting and made swamp gas explosions in North Carolina —the students learned science through getting down and dirty with the world around them.

Culture and community are priority in New Mexico, so conservation work such as digging canals to connect a river or installing an irrigation ditch are done not only to explore ecosystems, but to help return favors to the Navajo elders.

Students learned how much the weather affects the world around them in Texas, whether it’s pouring down rain or in the middle of the worst drought in a century, or both at the same time.

Now I’m in California, many of the same messages are abundant despite a different setting. Here at High Trails, the focus seems to be new opportunities.

Just as we bring kids up the mountain to play in the snow, see the Milky Way, or build a log shelter—things most students never had the chance to do before, High Trails has given me the opportunity to join the administrative team despite being foreign to their program.

I had never seen a Manzanita before arriving, and I still don’t know the correct word for the different types of cold precipitation we receive, but just as the kids’ eyes are opened to the beauty around them, my eyes have been opened to the power of a community that cares for our planet.

Since arriving, my strong motivation to live sustainably with our world has only grown stronger. Living with people who are so passionate about being outside and teaching sustainable habits has impressed on my ideals more than I ever thought I could impress on the program.

While I am bringing a new face to the team of administrators, I’m gaining more from being here than I could ever return…though I’m always willing to provide insight from my experience.

Each week is an adventure as I strive to share what I’ve learned throughout my journeys in exchange for what I’m learning. My main goal for this year is to take what I’ve learned from students across the country and different programs I’ve worked in and apply them here. I want to completely utilize this outdoor setting and ensure that each student’s journey up the mountain is as enriching as possible.

 
At High Trails Outdoor Science School, we literally force our instructors to write about elementary outdoor education, teaching outside, learning outside, our dirty classroom (the forest…gosh), environmental science, outdoor science, and all other tree hugging student and kid loving things that keep us engaged, passionate, driven, loving our job, digging our life, and spreading the word to anyone whose attention we can hold for long enough to actually make it through reading this entire sentence. Whew…. www.dirtyclassroom.com