Outdoor School

- Hall duty.
Hall duty.
(pencil scribbles)
Hall duty.
All right.
Oh.
(students chatter)
Hey.
Hey, you forgot the head nod?
All right man, you good.
(pencil scribbles)
(students chatter)
Oh.
How you doing? - Good.
- Uh huh.
Come on now.
It's my day.
Mm mm.
What's up, man?
You by 11 seconds.
(calm music)
Good morning, everyone.
- [Students] Good morning, Mr. Flemming.
- Good morning, everyone.
Earl Flemming, I'm a sixth grade science teacher
going on 21 years.
Come on, Claire.
What's up, Riley, how you doing?
How you doin', Julian?
Have a good day.
Good.
Our natural environment, the foundation of it is science,
and because within our curriculum,
we really don't get to venture outside
and explore science the way we need to.
And so with this opportunity,
we can be in an environment
that we can gain more in this outdoor experience
that we could not gain if we just did it around here.
And then I need a volunteer.
Whoop, there she was so fast again.
The foundation of that journey
is a desire for independence,
as well as the development of your social voice,
making connections with other students,
but in Outdoor School,
you learn to develop a confidence and a voice.
I've seen that over the years
where students who were quite reserved and shy
and isolated become this new person.
(calm music continues)
- I was excited for her to go.
She was really apprehensive about being away from home
and wasn't sure if she wanted to go,
and we really wanted her to go
'cause we knew it would be a great experience.
(calm music continues)
- Hi.
- They act really shy around people,
and they're loud through this house
just to let y'all know.
As you already know, if you got kids...
Leah, I call her my extrovert-introvert. (laughs)
The reason I say that, it's because at home, loud,
funniest thing, running up and down,
things like that, but then outside of her habitat,
she's very quiet if she doesn't know you.
Like she's very like in her bubble.
Go to bed, but the answer- - Oh yeah.
- Before Outdoor School,
they do have a parent-teacher meeting,
and it was so many questions.
I was like, my kid's not gonna have any fun.
There's gonna be so many kids that are not like in a box
that she's not gonna have any fun.
I need to protect her at all costs,
but I know if I would've said no,
she would've been crushed.
So, I was just like, all right, here we go. (laughs)
Here we go, let me just calm myself down.
- Just carry it on the bus.
We're gonna start from the back.
Put your bag on the seat, and you sit down.
Go that way.
Take care of them.
We're going to go around on the other side.
It's yours on the other side?
And Ruby, you good? - Yep.
- All right, so I'm gonna go ahead,
make sure I have everyone.
Help me with the meds.
Oh, wait.
Announcement, listen up. - Hey, folks, I just wanted
to say I hope you have a wonderful trip.
Rain or shine, it's gonna be so much fun.
Have a fantastic time.
(calm music) (birds sing)
(bird screeches)
(calm music continues)
(campers chatter)
(campers chant)
- Day one, it's just like all the kids come off the bus.
They're in a new space.
They don't know how to feel.
They don't know what to do.
Some of my fondest memories come
from my experience at camp,
so I try and provide that for them.
Day one is always like, I get to step forward and
build the most amount of connections
and make them feel comfortable.
- Give this one to Bumble.
- There you go, Kenzie. - Thank you.
(kids chatter)
- A lot of kids, this is, you know, their first sleepover.
We see kids who don't have sleeping bags, waterproof shoes,
jackets, stuff like that
that parents unfortunately just can't buy,
but luckily we have a good supply of back stock
for those for the week that they're here.
- [Camp Counselor] We've got rice, cereal, juice.
(campers chatter)
- We make our special diets,
and then I bag them up
so that when we serve them, they're clean.
And like if you were gluten-free then,
you would know that there's no gluten on it.
- There's like a chart when you walk in,
you can look on it and see
and tells you what meat it is
like chicken, pork, whatever.
- [Camp Counselor] (indistinct) All these numbers.
If you need some help finding them-
- You get to meet new friends,
and you get to be outdoors, which is really fun.
- Yeah, and it's more funner than school
- Sing some songs, do some fun performances.
The point of our community meeting
is to get you all in the know of what your week
of Outdoor School is going to look like.
Do you know what to expect
from Meriwether Outdoor School this week?
I ask that you do exactly what you're doing now,
and that is you are quiet
and you're being respectful
to the people who are up on stage.
The first thing we're gonna talk about
is the main attention getter
that staff will use this week at Outdoor School.
You may have heard it already.
If you know it, help me out.
It sounds like this,
♪ Ba bada ba ba ♪
♪ Ba ba ♪
(calm music)
- The force of these waves just keep coming.
- [Leah] I really like how the student leaders here
are just like really nice,
and they support kids through their journeys and stuff.
- Good job, everybody. - In Outdoor School,
we get to do a lot activities.
I like field study, the one where we try to find newts.
They're so cute.
Oh, went to go get some air.
(calm music continues)
- Yeah, no, everyone else is. - Are we drawing a newt?
- These are related to frogs. - Oh, let's sit down
over here. - That's a good thing
to look at.
Newts are carnivores, so they will mostly eat animals.
- Bugs? - Bugs, potentially yeah.
- Have anything on their paper
that we don't have
on our complicated whiteboard? (laughs)
Plants, yeah, we got trees.
We can also put plants though
'cause I mean, there's more than just trees.
(calm music continues)
(campers chatter)
- So beads, you earn them by doing something good.
For the student leaders, you have to do one thing.
Like for Aqua, you have to tell him a water fact
'cause he really likes the ocean.
For Clover and Bamboo, you have to draw them
a really good picture.
- I am moved.
I'm watching a couple of students.
They expressed they were a little bit nervous,
and I'm just sitting back.
I wanna be present, but not present
so that they're comfortable in this new relationship,
new connection with the staff here.
(campers chatter)
- [Bamboo] I met Audrey, let's see,
probably that day at the river.
- I don't know if I'm allowed. - No, you can, you can.
- The beads are perfect because everyone wants my beads.
So it's like, I don't know,
it like bonds everyone together too
'cause they're like, "Bamboo's beads are so cool."
- I'll give you a safety pin. - And then I feel like I get
to know the kids that way,
and so Audrey and Klara just kind of,
after I gave them their bead,
they kind of just stayed with me.
Honestly, they're so sweet.
(campers chatter) (water sloshes)
Klara did fall into the water, but I helped her up.
I helped her get on new shoes and everything.
And yeah, she still had a really good time.
Honestly, she was being such a good sport about it.
She kinda just picked herself right back up
and was like, "Yeah, that was totally cool."
- Can I come? - Yeah, of course
(campers chatter)
Let's get you dried off.
Did you bring extra socks with you?
(campers chatter)
- I've seen some student leaders fall
into the lake and get so muddy.
Like they had to go back up
to their cabin and get fully changed.
Like they were so muddy.
It was really bad, but this one was pretty good.
It wasn't too bad. - Yeah, just water.
- Yeah, just water. - Oh, wasn't it a bit of luck
that I was born a yellow duck?
- [Campers] Oh, wasn't it a bit of luck
that I was born a yellow duck?
- With yellow socks and yellow shoes,
so I may go wherever I choose.
- [Campers] With yellow socks and yellow shoes,
so I may go wherever I choose.
- Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack.
Waddle, waddle, waddle, waddle.
- [Campers] Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack.
Waddle, waddle, waddle, waddle.
(campers sing and clap)
- Part of learning how the natural world works
is learning how we interact with each other,
and like I love the science.
I love the the field study part,
but for me, it's the community
and the connections that we can build
in a very short amount of time is really special.
It's our job as the adults and the staff
to make them feel welcome.
I think it's a mix of the environment
and the people who are out here.
- We can try on a pair of rain boots
that's at the Ecology Center. - Very good.
We'll wait a moment.
Earthquake will meet you at the top of the stairs.
- [Camper] We're winding down at the end of the week,
and everyone is finally getting comfortable
with each other.
And so, we're best buds at that point.
- It's cool to see them like change from day one,
those kids who are hesitant about camp
or don't know quite what the deal is
to loving it at the end. - All right, so-
- [Earl] When the students would do
the campfire presentations,
students who normally may have some reservations
about standing up before their classmates
at Outdoor School found their confidence,
found their voice, found their degree of entertainment.
- I talked to some of the girls in my cabin.
They're really nice.
And so really happy that I made some new friends.
I'm really sad that I'm leaving,
but I have these beads to remember some of the staff
and student leaders that were here.
- Tastes like really good. - Yeah.
Coffee does taste good.
- I don't like strawberries,
but I like strawberry ice cream.
- Yeah, a lot of people like the ice cream.
(relaxed acoustic music)
- Okay, Honor Guard,
circle up, circle up.
So, then you will find out which side
of the rope brings down the flag,
and you will lower the flag.
(relaxed acoustic music continues)
(campers applaud)
- This week, we learned that water is necessary
for all living things.
Water also takes so many forms.
Over time, just like water,
knowledge also takes many forms.
- Just like the sapling,
we hope that we've helped plant your roots
in education, nature, and a loving community.
(campers applaud)
- [Camp Counselor] All right, my friends, thank you all
for a wonderful week of Outdoor School.
I hope to you see each and every one of you in four years.
I have few more-
- [Campers] Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack.
Waddle, waddle, waddle, waddle.
Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack.
Waddle, waddle, waddle, waddle.
(campers sing)
♪ At Meriwether it means I love you ♪
♪ I love you ♪
(campers sing)
(upbeat marching band music)
- We are back at Conestoga Middle School.
Students unloading, excited about being back home,
but also excited about the experience they had had.
(student shouts)
Not one student was unhappy with the experience.
It was truly just exhilarating experience
to see everybody across the board happy
and see families happy
to embrace their now newly grown up
young men and young ladies.
(uplifting music)
- It was nice to see that she was comfortable
being away from home and it was a good experience for her.
- [Audrey's Mom] Yeah, there were like no regrets
from going.
It was never like, Oh, I really missed you guys at night,"
or, "I was really sad," or, "I wanted to come home."
It was just, "I had the best time ever.
We had so much fun.
I'm so glad.
Even though my friend was there with me,
everything was positive."
Her entire experience was positive.
- Black and brown.
- The bus and everyone's like, "Bye, Leah.
Bye Leah!
See you later."
She's screaming out the car.
I'm like, "You've never screamed out the car to nobody."
Like waving at everybody.
I was like, this is a new Leah.
She asked me to do a play date.
She's like, "Can you take me
to the mall with my friends?"
She wants to make more friends.
So she's like, "I made another friend,
and I made another friend."
And every day, like it's totally different.
She's very outgoing now.
You're not raising kids, you're raising adults.
You have to let them be.
You have to let them go out.
They're gonna come back.
If you are anything like me, overprotective,
you have to let them grow up.
That's one lesson that I had to learn.
- Uh huh, yep. - You got everyone.
- [Campers] Newts, newts, newts, newts, newts!
- It's an experience that can't be replicated.
Like you can go camping with your kids,
but having them be independent and away from you
and learning things on their own
and with their peers is invaluable.

Oregon’s first outdoor school started in 1957. Since then, hundreds of thousands of fifth and sixth graders have attended. In 2016, Oregon voters approved public funding for outdoor school throuh the Oregon Lottery for every fifth or sixth grade student. Newarly 40,000 Oregon students attend outdoor school each year, at no cost to students or families. Outdoor school is safe, inclusive, life changing experience where students report feeling connected to nature and a sense of belonging. Outdoor school is for ALL Oregon students.

OSU Extension Service Presents a Laugh Cry Love Entertainment Production In association with LABS Media Executive Producer Benno Lyon Directed by Ifanyi Bell Produced By Ifanyi Bell & Ime N. Etuk Director of Photography Ifanyi Bell