Outdoor School

[Water trickling]

[Birds chirping]

- I’m alright.

How nice.

- Get that one over there.

Why you keep looking? You’re not tall enough for those.

I’ve never bought one of these.

- The difference is that this one is square and this one is like a mummy.

Do you want to be a mummy?

Well, my family doesn't have a lot of experience

camping.

We like going to the mountains and so on but not camping.

One time we were going to go camping

and we came across a bear.

Yeah, and after that...never again.

That's why my wife

is a little worried about this

but I told her to let him go.

I think he will be in good hands.

I found out when

Angel brought me a brochure

about the Outdoor School program.

Yes, I had my personal doubts because he's my son and

we've never been separated

for several days, you know?

- What do you know about outdoor school so far?

- It’s outdoors.

And we're going to sing songs sometimes,

and make s'mores, and you go hiking maybe.

I’ve never camped.

- I bet that’s how he packs his clothes when he needs to go to the airport.

- If you think of it, bear is just a big, fluffy dog.

- And the body wash?

- Coyote’s just a cat.

- When I ask him,

"How do you feel about participating in Outdoor School?"

He tells me, "I'm very nervous."

So I told him,

I asked him, "Why are you nervous?"

And he tells me, "Well, I've never been away from you."

And he said, "I don't know

what's going to happen over there."

- I’m going to take a plastic bag.

Only like one of my friends is going to be there, yeah.

- I think it's amazing, something for him to experience.

For him to share with his classmates or friends later

it can help other kids, so that if they have any fears or doubts

they can see that if he can do it

other kids can also do the same.

- Is anybody ready to share what you know,

your prior knowledge about outdoor school?

Eduardo?

- I know that you have a lot of feelings about outdoor school.

The thought of not sleeping in my own bed,

in my own room with my own things,

that gets me a little anxious. It’s totally normal to be a little uncomfy

about that part.

- ...You have to go to sleep at 8 PM? - No, 10 PM.

-10 PM. - That there are multiple activities that you can do.

- Multiple activities, good. Angel?

- You go hiking. - You go hiking.

Even if it’s raining, how about that?

- When and where do we meet?

Ok, outside of the school, 2:45, although if you show up at 2:47

I’m not going to leave you behind.

- You got some more stuff? Go to the back...

Go to the back...

- You excited to be alone? - No. Maybe.

- Maybe? - I don’t know.

- I’m gonna miss you, mucho mucho mucho!...

- I wish the bus would just...

- Well, I was nervous

but when I saw him on the bus, I felt better.

It gave me peace and I felt pride because he was going to a place,

well, a new experience.

- Three, two, one —

- [All] ♪We welcome you to outdoor school, we’re mighty glad you’re here♪

♪We’ll send you here reverberating with a mighty cheer♪

♪We’ll sing you in we’ll sing you out♪

♪To you we raise a mighty shout, hooray!♪

♪Hail, hail, the gang’s all here, welcome to outdoor school♪

[Cheering]

- Alright let’s put those windows back up!

- Can I have Angel H?

- Is that good? - Yeah.

- Want to say your name and favorite color?

- My name is Angel.

My favorite color is blue and yeah.

- You are not going to be choosing if you sleep on top or bottom,

it’s going to be assigned to you, ok?

- It’s comfy. Sit down, it’s comfy.

- Everyone make sure you have a chance to...

- In the middle is gender-neutral? - Yeah.

[Coughing]

- How’s that cough? It’s getting better?

- Yeah I feel better.

[Sniffs]

My head still hurts a little, but it’s alright.

- He said his ear hurts.

So he’s just talking to the nurse right now.

[Inaudible]

[Coughing]

- [Assembly Speaker] Alright everybody, are you guys ready to listen to my story?

- [All] Yeah.

My mom gave me a dime...

- He was really, really homesick

the first day, and he didn't want to talk.

- [Assembly Speaker] But I didn’t go to Denny’s...

- I got one of his friends to sit with him.

Honestly I think that’s the best way to help with homesickness

is offering whatever you can offer,

but also giving them a friend to make them more comfortable.

- Feel better?

- He wasn't the only person who had a rough first night,

but he made it through that first night and sailed through the rest of it.

And I know that for the rest of his life

he will look back on the challenge of that first night,

and know that he made the right decision sticking around.

He won't forget that.

- How dare you?

- Give your attention to me just for a moment.

Hello, everybody. My name is Bullfrog.

There are a number of duties you will get at Camp Kuratli.

You lovely, bright young minds,

you 6th graders will be the hosts.

And our other important role, which is called the jump-up.

Here, if you’re a jump-up,

it will be your responsibility, you will grab the food for your table.

We eat family style here at Camp Kuratli.

What that means is we have full plates of food.

that we share amongst everybody.

- For me, I really like the social aspect

that outdoor school has.

Being away from home and seeing kids thrive and still have fun,

even knowing that what they're doing is really hard

is something that’s really cool to see.

- [All] ♪Way-oh, way-oh, way oh, way-oh, way-oh!♪

- I'd say kids who struggle academically,

kids who struggle socially,

I like being here and helping those kids who are kind of like me,

you know, when I was younger.

- Look at the wood cookie!

- We're here to make it possible for everyone.

- Go!

- A lot of kids at school are stuck in this mindset of like,

“I have to just be doing the kind of, the normal thing”

or whatever that is.

[Inaudible]

But here there’s so many more

ways for them to express themselves.

- I caught one!

- A lot of little fish...

- It gives them a chance to learn about our world,

and it also gives them an opportunity to be with a whole bunch of people

that they probably see for like an hour a day,

and be around them and create really strong bonds with all of them.

- Do you guys know what truffles are?

- Yeah, they’re like—

- They’re a type of fungus that people pay a lot for.

- It's one week, but that week makes a huge impact on them, and their lives.

[Inaudible]

- These are my beads that I earned for doing my tasks:

Plants, animals, soil,

and I got water today.

I really liked archery for rec time,

animals, plants.

I made friends with Bullfrog, Goose, Aqualung, Slug Man,

Mitochondria, Sasquatch.

- What we're going to be doing is collecting soil from everyone tonight

for our soil ceremony,

and using it tomorrow morning during our tree-planting ceremony.

- I brought some from a tomato plant. - Thank you.

- I brought some from my dad's garden, because it’s kind of just,

I eat from there a lot.

- Yeah. - So, yeah.

- It’s good, when it’s burnt it’s good.

- Yeah, I like it burnt.

[Laughing]

- I’m pretty sure that’s a good marshmallow.

[Laughing]

- That’s burnt!

- [Assembly Speaker] Hello and welcome to our last campfire here at Kuratli outdoor school...

- [Staff Chorus] ♪Roll call!♪

♪Nehalem, sha-sha-sha-shabooyah roll call!♪

- [Group] ♪We are Nehalem♪ - [All] Yeah!

- [Group] ♪We’re kind and honest♪ - [All] Yeah!

- [Group] ♪But it’s ok though♪ - [All] Yeah!

- [Group] ♪Because we’re modest♪ - [All] Yeah!

- [Group] ♪We are Tacoma♪ - [All] Yeah!

- [Group] ♪We are the best♪ - [All] Yeah!

- [Group] ♪We’re energetic♪ - [All] Yeah!

- [Group] ♪Because we get our rest♪ - [All] Yeah!

- Campfire is so great because everyone gets to be together and coexist,

and I think music is something that brings people together.

I really appreciate how vulnerable the students are as well in that setting.

- [Student Group] ♪...He left home♪

♪He came back all nice and clean...♪

- The most important thing about being a successful teacher

is building positive relationships with students,

- What’s up guys? Come on!

- I’ve got to know them and watch them do stuff like the evening campfire,

and watching them sing along with the staff.

- [Staff Chorus] ♪You’re at outdoor school!♪

- [All] ♪We’re rising up, we’re rising up♪

♪...My backpack, my pony and me♪

♪My backpack, my pony and me♪

- We’re about to start going to get our wood cookies signed.

[Singing and chatter]

- Hi there, Angel.

Here, let me put it right there.

- Oh, oh, oh. There you go.

Angel. Alright, another classic Panda signature, right?

- I think the biggest impact of outdoor school when we come back

is this idea of a shared experience that we now get to carry.

In the entire Portland metro area, even if you didn't go to the same school

as someone, even if you didn't know them in 6th grade,

it’s something that we have in common.

I just don't know many other examples of something

that brings people together quite like that in a region.

- Plants actually talk to each other, and plants form a community together.

And just like the plants this week, you guys really pulled together

as a community, and it was really awesome to see.

- Hi, my name’s Angel, and one of my most favorite memories of being here

is being with my - what’s it called? - cabins and my friends.

- ...Six, seven, eight...

- What are some of the things that you liked the most

about Outdoor School?

- Field activities,

and waking up to see my friends.

We were all in a cabin, so we all had to become friends.

I don’t know how it all felt to other people,

but to me it felt like a sleepover.

- When Angel returned from camp,

I asked him "How was your experience?"

And he said good.

"How did you feel those first days", I asked...

And he said, "Bad, but afterwards I felt better."

- The field studies are pretty fun.

- Were y’all right in your hypothesis?

Come on, y’all.

- The hikes that you go on, too.

I would like to go back to be a student leader.

I’ll do animals field study.

- ...Kind of scary looking.

- I think that parents need to have...

...that faith, that trust in their kids...

- We are going to take a reflection.

What does it mean to be taken out of your comfort zone?

- Something that you would do that you wouldn’t normally do.

- Two perfect answers.

- It gives them an opportunity

to have new experiences, new activities.

But I would like for there to be information meetings

for the kind of families or parents

who are afraid.

So that the community can

trust in these types of programs which they might be afraid of.

So that it will help people

in the future.

[Birds chirping] [Water trickling]

[Wind]