Submitted by Kurt Sample, Sound View Camp.
Not too long ago, 5th or 6th grade camp was very much a part of a child’s educational experience. Classrooms would adventure out to a local camp and learn about nature, teamwork, and each other. This annual hands-on experience and “rite-of passage” was priceless.
Sadly, budgets, transportation, and insurance have prevented schools from participating in outdoor environmental education (OEE). Abandoning this experience, the learning, and the social growth is more than sad – it’s not doing justice to a generation that will be relied upon to come together and fix a myriad of environmental woes..
Sound View Camp, in Longbranch, is one camp that offers OEE experiences for schools. To ready their staff for visiting schools, Sound View offers a Wednesday to Friday Spring Break Camp which allows parents to register their kids, ages 9 to 14, individually for an overnight OEE experience. This especially benefits students whose schools do not offer outdoor education.
Parents can discover more at soundviewcamp.com.
