Outdoor Education Week wraps up another year in LVUSD

Special to the Acorn


Outdoor Education Week (OEW) for fifth graders has ended its eighth and final week at Cottontail Ranch just a few miles south of the Las Virgenes Unified School District (LVUSD) headquarters.


According to Ann Ekland, LVUSD Director of Elementary Education, "It’s important to understand that Outdoor Education Week is not away from school. This is outdoor education. The students are simply away from home for a week following a prescribed curriculum."


One elementary school a week attends for five days packed with "classes" which more closely resemble hands-on seminars. The focus is on the environment.


The outdoor class contents are the same as the district’s educational guidelines but are linked to outdoor activities with a heavy emphasis on science.


"The week is of great educational value. We know children learn in a variety of ways and what better way than to put them in the natural environment talking about ways to care for our natural resources in years to come," said Ekland.


OEW was organized more than 30 years ago by two district elementary teachers, Carolyn Kist and Dave Rowan, and has evolved into a program funded by LVUSD, L.A. Municipal Water District and parents.


The week costs $260 per child. Parents receive a 2 percent rebate on scrip sales and can purchase candy to sell with 50 percent of the profits used to help with the fees along with bake sales proceeds.


The results of these fundraising activities means no child is denied the opportunity to participate due to financial hardship.


Partly because grades aren’t part of the program, parents can elect not to send their child to OEW. In that situation, the student participates in another class or a few parents use the time for a family vacation or simply keep their child home against the urgings of the district, which would prefer that the student stay in school.


The OEW supervisory staff consists of two rotating camp directors from Willow Elementary, the fifth-grade teachers from the attending school, a school health tech and counselors. At night, security guards are on duty. The health tech provides medical attention and administers prescribed medications just as they would in the school’s health office.


The counselors are high school students who, in most cases, attended OEW while in the fifth-grade.


Agoura High School senior Phillip Isbouts spent his fifth grade week at OEW while a student at White Oak Elementary. "I enjoyed my time at Outdoor Ed and really wanted to come back as a counselor and I got the chance."


The counselors are assigned to each cabin and are involved in all activities with the students to insure a smooth learning experience and help the students adapt to group living conditions.


During the week that Agoura High School senior Ryan Chin was a counselor, Yerba Buena Elementary was represented which was his former elementary school. "The kids were really great. Sometimes a little noisy at bedtime before lights out. But for me, it was very interesting to come back as a counselor. Nothing like it."


Gayle MacNish, Yerba Buena Elementary fifth-grade teacher, said her favorite activity was the visit to the Malibu Lagoon tide pool.


The district brought in special docents that divided the kids into small groups for individualized touchy-feely exposure to lagoon sea life.


Days were filled from 7:30 a.m. to lights out at 9 p.m., with adventures that included an insect safari, a night hike, treks to a forestry station and a three-mile hike through Malibu Creek State Park.


"The kids learned about soil conservation and composting at the Rancho Compost Plant, water sciences, regional animals, environmental issues and native Americans with guest speakers for all areas," said MacNish. "It was very satisfying to watch the team building, cabin communication skills and personal responsibility develop."


The discipline factor, based upon three strikes and you’re out, is consistent. All discipline problems are written up and forwarded to the school principal who determines if a parent conference is warranted. Three strikes and the child goes home. It doesn’t happen frequently, but it’s enforced when necessary according to OEW supervisors.


One member of a cabin can cause the other students to lose part of their recreational time. This intertwined action/reaction keeps rule infractions to a minimum.


Willow Elementary fifth-grade teacher Sandra Pope, who’s been involved with OEW for 30 years, said, "Kids mature being away from their parents. They get more independent making their own decisions. It’s not just learning about nature but learning how to take care of themselves. They make decisions about what clothes to wear, personal hygiene and cabin housecleaning."


Once a student leaves the school campus on Monday and until they return on Friday, "There are only letters—no care packages from home. There are no parent visits or phone calls allowed," Pope said.


Michael LaFrenz, who’s co-director this year and teaches at Willow Elementary, said, "OEW helps prepare for the transition into the sixth grade with changing class periods and teachers which is a new and different world for students."


At meal times, each cabin rotated setting tables for the entire camp which is part of learning to perform simple tasks quickly and thoroughly within time constraints.


The "hopper" is one student per cabin who gets the food for their table, keeps the drinking glasses filled, clears the table and sponges it down. The hopper is a rotated position and is the only student allowed to get up during the meal.


These duties help students develop a sense of working for the community as a whole and for many are new learning experiences.


"Their parents are saying we trust you and we’ll let you go so you can become more independent," said senior OEW director Pope.


Outdoor Education Week could very well be the highlight of a child’s elementary school years.


"Parents can read all about the week in the journal their child is required to keep which is read by the counselors, teachers and director to deflect potential concerns and detect positive items that can be utilized during the group sessions," said LaFrenz.


On Monday, parents may read about the homesickness and on Friday read the last entry that usually says in so many words this was the best week of somebody’s whole life.





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