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Outdoor Ed. Camp is always a highlight of the 6th grade
year. Students "earn their way" to camp with a chocolate bar
sale in the winter. Parents volunteer to help with cooking and some
supervision. We go to Cornet Bay Environmental Camp at Deception Pass State
Park for four days and three nights.
This year, 2002, will mark the 27th anniversary of
the program. Each sixth grader is given to opportunity to spend four days
and three nights learning about and enjoying the outdoors and nature. Our
curriculum includes workshops such as tide pool studies, orienteering, art,
poetry beach walk, survival, plant and tree identification, archery and a hike
to Goose Rock. Everyone practices
“treading lightly on nature” and students gain an awareness of their impact on
the environment.
High school freshmen through seniors are selected as
counselors. They supervise a cabin of six to eight campers. This has
proven an excellent way to use the young adults at our high school as role
models and mentors.
Besides the academic schedule, students compete in
Camp Olympics, have campfires and sing alongs each night, and participate in
Skit 
Night. 6th graders learn about living as a group
and build relationships so their whole cabin group can prosper. As a result, many students forge new
friendships and understandings that last well beyond the four days they spend
together.
Hopefully all campers look back at their experience as a "once in a lifetime" memory, having found new friends and gaining a better understanding of our great outdoors.