The annual fifth-grade outdoor school will happen May 20-23, and Elmira High School juniors and seniors are set to begin training to be camp counselors.
Outdoor school is held at Sky Camp in Fall Creek. It is where the fifth-graders of Elmira and Veneta elementary schools take a week to go to a campsite and learn out in the elements rather than in a classroom.
Counselors will be teaching the fifth-graders a wide range of topics, from the water cycle to how to survive in nature.
Returning senior counselor Jordan Burgess is excited to return to the camp and teach the campers.
“I enjoyed teaching the kids about opening their eyes to the wilderness and teaching them about how the world works,” the senior said. “It’s fun seeing them light up … as they become more comfortable they are more willing to open up and try new things.”
Students will be required to attend all 10 training sessions in order to become counselors. These training sessions will be on Wednesdays from March 6 to May 15, and take place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Fern Ridge Middle School library.
The student counselors will be required to be positive role models to the kids and may be sent home if necessary.
Counselors will leave for the campgrounds on May 19, missing four days of school in the process.
Students were interviewed on Feb. 22, and 40 lucky students were notified they were accepted on Wednesday.
Falcon News interviewed returning senior counselor Austyn Woolcott about what he is looking forward to as he goes back to outdoor school.
“Being outdoors and seeing the sun every day,” Woolcott said.
