10A | SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2019 | SIUSLAW NEWS
OUTDOORS from page 1A
“When Oregon passed a
bill to fund Outdoor School,
it funded only fifth- and
sixth-grades, and prior
to that, we had been do-
ing Outdoor Adventure
Camp, which was daytime.
That was fifth- and sev-
enth-grades, so the budget-
ing was sort of a nightmare.
We could pay for like half of
it with grant funds, but not
use those to pay for the oth-
er half,” she said.
When it became apparent
that Siuslaw could hold Out-
door School this year, Perry,
a sixth-grade science teach-
er, decided to direct.
“Our sixth-grade team is
super awesome, so they said
we could do it in sixth-grade
instead of the five/seven
split,” she said. “And I dig it,
since I teach Stream Team
and it sort of goes along
with a lot of the things we
already do. It’s a good open-
er to middle school, too.”
She said she “had to rein-
vent the wheel” since a lot of
the old data was on floppy
disks. And not everything
could carry over from the
Outdoor Adventure Camp,
especially since Outdoor
School extends into the
night.
This year’s camp was held
at Girl Scouts of Oregon
and Southwest Washing-
ton’s Camp Cleawox, which
is celebrating its 90th birth-
day this year. The forested
camp features gravel paths,
lake access, a ropes course,
archery range, and more
than a dozen sperate areas
for camp activities. A big
highlight is evening s’mores
and the chance to stay over-
night in the cabins scattered
throughout the property.
“It feels really big, es-
pecially when we’re do-
ing rounds at 11 o’clock at
night,” Perry said. She added
that 87 students stayed the
night. “We didn’t have any
kids go home homesick the
first night, which was nice.”
Some
students
only
stayed for day activities,
going home at the end of
the school day. Still others
stayed through evening ac-
tivities but went home for
the night.
One overnight adult chap-
erone monitored groups
of four cabins, which were
each overseen by one high
school counselor. Campers
could win tickets for clean
cabins. Some cabins had
even decorated outside.
“The winning cabin group
that has the most tickets is
going to get special s’mores
materials Thursday night,”
Perry said.
She added that the boy
cabins “were not quite as
beautiful as the girls’ but
still pretty clean.” Every-
one wanted a chance to win
extra ingredients for the
campfire treats.
To keep everyone or-
ganized, every Outdoor
School participant wore a
“wood cookie” with their
name engraved on it. These
wood rounds attached to
necklaces served as name
tags and reminders of camp
counselors’ camp names.
If a camper lost the wood
cookie or forgot someone’s
camp name, they had to join
in a punishment called the
“Squirrely Dance.”
One eighth-grade cub
counselor, called “Lupin” for
the week, described one of
the campers’ favorite activi-
ties — Gaga Ball.
“Right there in the gladia-
tor ring is Gaga Ball. It’s kind
of crazy,” she said. “Every-
one is on the side of the ring
and the ball is in the middle.
One kid screams ‘Gaga Ball!’
and everyone goes running
towards it. You can’t pick up
the ball, and you can’t kick
it, so you have to slap it to-
wards people. You have to
try to hit them knee or be-
low, and if you get hit by it,
you’re out. It’s pretty intense
and everyone loves it.”
Other cub counselors
Sparrow and Yogi joined her
PHOTOS BY CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS
Outdoor School campers spent
May 28 to 31 at Camp Cleawox,
where dedicated volunteers
and school staff worked with
sixth-graders as they explored
the abundant outdoor activi-
ties offered in the area.
to talk about their experi-
ences.
“We’ve been as kids when
it was just a day camp be-
fore,” Lupin said. “I love the
outdoors, and honestly I’m
glad to get a break from the
classroom and be outside.”
Sparrow said the middle
schoolers had to apply, just
like the high school coun-
selors. Five eighth-graders
were selected.
“The cubs help,” Lupin
said. “We run errands. Yes-
terday, we were lugging fire-
wood everywhere. As cubs,
we’re just training, getting
the ropes for how every-
thing works. Hopefully next
year, we can become a day-
time counselor.”
The cubs’ main area of au-
thority was helping during
rec time, which Sparrow
said was her favorite.
Yogi said, “Probably the
most interesting part for me
is the archery, since I love
bows. I’ve just grown up
them and around hunting.”
Over at the archery
range, two adult supervisors
worked with students on
proper shooting technique.
“You guys having fun?”
Perry asked campers who
were waiting their turns.
“Yeah, but like it’s kind
of hard,” one girl answered.
“Some bows you have to aim
above or below the target.”
“Yeah, that’s why I like the
orange one,” a boy added.
Camper Max walked by
holding a pink bow, saying
that it was the best.
“And Max got a full-out
bullseye!” the boy said as
Max went up to the line to
take aim.
According to Perry, high
school counselors help with
each of the 14 learning sta-
tions. They are partnered
with experts on the topic,
such as Cape Perpetua rang-
ers, Camp Cleawox staff,
Salmon and Trout Enhance-
ment Program (STEP) vol-
unteers, Siuslaw Watershed
Council’s Program Manager
Kyle Terry, Western Lane
Ambulance District EMTs
and more.
“The counselors are there
sort of as kid movers and
kid helpers,” Perry said.
Charlie York, a critical
care paramedic with West-
ern Lane, said, “Since there
aren’t too many adult chap-
erones, the high school
kids have volunteered to
be counselors, and … they
have done very, very well as
far as attitudes.”
York and Safety Officer
Dave Haberman led stu-
dents in creating slings,
splints and bandages during
the hour-long emergency
care study section. The am-
bulance crew was also on
staff during the day in case
emergency situations arose.
“What we’re teaching is
first-aid basics,” York said.
“We also teach campers how
to use an epinephrine pen in
case someone has to use it, as
well as bleeding control. The
kids really seem to be recep-
tive. There are a lot more
fun things out here, like ar-
chery, fishing and kayaking
— but the kids come to here
and they get to become re-
ally engaged. Next thing you
know, the hour is burned up
and they get to go on to their
next station.”
Other activity stations in-
cluded canoeing with a cer-
tified lifeguard, water quali-
ty testing to look at bugs and
test the pH of the lake water,
hiking with rangers from
Cape Perpetua, playing ad-
venture games like Gaga
Ball, climbing through a low
ropes course, making tie
dye, painting gifts of kind-
ness and fishing.
According to STEP mem-
ber Ron Caputo, campers
caught over 70 trout in three
days.
“And they ate them for
dinner tonight (Thursday)
after cooking themselves
over the campfire and they
were delicious!” Perry said
in a Facebook post. “Thank
you STEP!”
One lesson included ori-
enteering and compass
work. Perry navigated the
paths on the way there.
“The counselor we’re
coming upon, ‘Queen Bee,’
is Madison Reynolds, the
Rhody Queen. She also has
been a TA (teacher’s assis-
tant) in my science class for
the last two years, so I was
so stoked to be able to get
her out here,” Perry said.
“She has been an amazing
counselor since she knows
all the kids and basically a
sixth-grade teacher at this
point.”
Additional helpers
throughout Outdoor School
included school staff, com-
munity volunteers and par-
ents.
“Jamie (Gorder) has been
out here all week, which has
been amazing,” Perry said.
“She’s been our legitimate
camp cook. Rotary has vol-
unteered to send four to five
people every meal to cook
— we’ve got a lot of people
working for that. But Jamie
has really been running the
kitchen. Having that con-
tinuity between when they
all leave and come back in
has been great. Next year we
might actually have to hire
a camp cook, or maybe hire
Jamie.”
Gorder said she was excit-
ed to spend the week with
Silas, her son, and have her
husband come help during
meal times.
“I know I’m very overpro-
tective of my kid, so I said,
‘I’ll just take a week vaca-
tion and spend the week
out here, whatever you guys
need help with.’ Well, I’m
out here and I get a text
saying they needed help in
the kitchen. So I’ve literal-
ly been doing every meal.
Which is completely fine
because Silas loves it, since
I’m not following him with
a camera,” she said.
Perry thanked all the
kitchen helpers.
“Kids say the food has
been like the best thing
ever,” she said. “‘This is so
much better than school
food’ — which is really fun-
ny, because we ordered it
through the school so it re-
ally is still school food.”
Each day featured three
meals, snacks and dessert,
all to give energy to the stu-
dents spending their days
full of outdoor fun.
Some activities were
harder than others, especial-
ly when wind carried cano-
ers off course.
“Only a few kids ended up
in the drink,” the lifeguard
joked. Everyone who entered
the boats had to wear a life
jacket and follow safety pro-
cedures.
One of the kids who float-
ed away had signed up for
canoes during rec time
“I kind of don’t want to,” he
said, showing his exhaustion.
“I think I’ll just sit down.”
Before long, he ran off to
go play Gaga Ball.
At the end of the week,
students were bused back to
Siuslaw Middle School on
Friday morning.
“It’s been such an amazing
camp,” Gorder said.
Perry added, “We’re lucky
that we can do this so close
to home.”
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