Outdoor School 2023/2024
Outdoor LearningAfter settling into our home site at Camp Myrtlewood our program curriculum and explorations have bloomed into some truly exciting learning for attending 5th and 6th graders. From catching macros in the creek to hiking in search of decomposers, students are surrounded by learning, curiosity and science skills all week long.
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Incredible StaffOver the last two years our program has grown in many ways. One of the most enduring is the impact talented, returning staff has on the program. So many uniquely gifted people touch Outdoor School each year and we are so grateful for their dedication to the students, their instructional craft and the joy they bring to the work. Thanks to: Ocean, Fruit Bat, Mighty Mouse, Sasquatch, Lichen, Crawdaddy, Cisco, Trout, Mud, Moss, Stink Bug, Red tail, Fern, Bandit, Robin, Moth, Long Wave.
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Student Leaders in Action!We LOVE our high school student volunteers. Over the last two years we have grown our leadership program to more than 30 high schoolers each session of Outdoor School. These amazing young adults take on new challenges, leading games, field study and campfire each week.
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Spring/Summer 2022
"And away we go!"
Our first season of overnight Outdoor School was filled with fun, exploration and challenges. With late season rain and snow many students found themselves waking up at Camp Latgawa to fresh snowy mornings, exploring on field study with hand warmers in their pockets and singing loudly around a roaring fire inside the dining hall for campfire. Outdoor School happens rain or shine, and even in the snow! This spring we also began developing our High School Leader program which invites high school students to take on leadership opportunities at Outdoor School. High School Leaders are a talented group of students who want to work with kids and teach about the outdoors. We are so excited to continue to grow our program for High School students to participate in next year. As spring ended and the school year wrapped up we also had a fun opportunity to work with Grants Pass School District's Summer Enrichment Program. We were able to offer a 3 day outdoor adventure camp for 3rd-8th grade TAG students. We went zip-lining, creek exploring and hiking with goats! Thank you to The Crest at Willow Witt, Rogue Valley Zipline Adventures and the Grants Pass School District for making these opportunities to get outdoors and have fun.
Journaling on Field Study |
Collecting Macroinvertebrates |
Ziplining at Summer Camp |
Winter 2022
"How does where we are influence who we are?"
Throughout the winter Rogue ODS staff have been getting into classrooms exploring our big question for Outdoor School this year, "How does where we are influence who we are?" Each school that has signed up for Spring ODS has had three classroom lessons to help prepare students for their field experience. We started by breaking our big question down into a few smaller questions. Our first lesson was all about, "where are we"? We explored artifacts, told stories and came up with many ways in which we can describe where we are. Next we delved deeper into, "who are we"? We played community building games, continued to develop relationships and explored how seasons affect the traditions in our individual lives. Next, we introduced the concept of adaptations and trained our brains to make observations by noticing details about ladybugs. What a joy it has been to be working with students again and if these lessons in the classroom are any indication of what is to come, we are in for a fabulous spring!
Fall Is For Learning
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Fall 2021
Lifelong learning is one of the core values of Rogue Environmental Ed. This fall we took time to continue our personal and programmatic growth. We participated in EDI workshops with the Center for Diversity and the Environment, NAAEE, SOU and Rethinking Schools. We read books like, "Natural Curiosity", "Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain" and "The First Oregonians". And, we took time to reflect and continue to build our understandings of best practices in education, equity, diversity and inclusion. This process is challenging, ever evolving and helps us to embrace another one of our learning values, to focus on the process over the outcomes. To learn more about how our learning has influenced our program take a look at our revised values statements here.
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Spring ODS 2021
Reflecting on an exciting spring session of Outdoor School we find ourselves grateful for the exploration, joy and learning we got to be a part of. This year's hybrid ODS included live virtual lessons, student exploration kits and in-person learning in schoolyards across the Rogue Valley. We were thrilled to meet and work with nearly 500 5th and 6th grade students and are continuing to develop our program for next year!
HandmadeExploring the grass in our schoolyards provided opportunities for observation and many curious surprises!
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Just Add WaterOur last week of ODS allowed for us to invite students out to Camp Latgawa for the day. We explored and collected macroinvertebrates from Latgawa Creek!
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Wonder-fullThis spring we were often joined by butterflies looking for a place to rest. What a joy to be able to share these moments of wonder together!
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Rogue ODS Land Acknowledgement
Fall 2020
As environmental educators we have the opportunity to help students and instructors develop deeper connections with the land we live on. Vital to building the connection to place is acknowledging the colonial and genocidal history that has provided us the privilege of being here. In preparation for spring programming we have been researching tribal history of the Rogue Valley and writing a land acknowledgement. Land Acknowledgments recognize the ancestral tribal lands our programs take place on and the past, present and futures of indigenous communities. This land acknowledgment serves as a starting point as we continue to build relationships with indigenous people and organizations, and as a way to encourage participants to learn more about the tribal history of our region.
Rogue Outdoor School programs (and all school programs) take place on indigenous homelands. As we explore and learn about the lands of this region we express gratitude and appreciation for the Takelma, Cow Creek Umpqua, Latgawa and Applegate people who have been living and working on the land since time immemorial. The land most of our participating students reside on was historically known as Kely-Ik by the Takelma people. Kely-Ik is the Takelma name for Sugar Pine. The residential site used for ODS, Camp Latgawa, resides on the ancestral homelands of the Lagtawa people, also known as the Upland Takelma. Recently many of the site's landmarks were renamed as Latgawa Creek, Latgawa Soda Springs and Latgawa Mountain.
Before being forcibly removed from the Rogue Valley to the Siletz and Grand Ronde Reservations in the 1850s, Takelma, Latgawa, Cow Creek Umpqua and Applegate communities lived in permanent villages along the Rogue River and its tributaries in the winter months. They spent late spring, summer and early fall traveling throughout the mountains and highland meadows. Today Takelma descendants live throughout Oregon and the world, including here in the Rogue Valley. Grandma Agnes Baker Pilgrim was a notable member of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians who lived in Grants Pass until she passed away in 2019. In 2004 Grandma Aggie brought back the sacred Salmon Ceremony which is now celebrated each year on the Rogue River near Gold Hill. She also was a founding member of the International Council of Indigenous Grandmothers, an "alliance of female elders who promote the protection of Earth and awareness of indigenous cultures".
With this acknowledgment we commit to continuing to educate ourselves and build relationships between our Outdoor School community and indigenous people and to honor the many diverse indigenous people still connected to this land on which we gather.
Before being forcibly removed from the Rogue Valley to the Siletz and Grand Ronde Reservations in the 1850s, Takelma, Latgawa, Cow Creek Umpqua and Applegate communities lived in permanent villages along the Rogue River and its tributaries in the winter months. They spent late spring, summer and early fall traveling throughout the mountains and highland meadows. Today Takelma descendants live throughout Oregon and the world, including here in the Rogue Valley. Grandma Agnes Baker Pilgrim was a notable member of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians who lived in Grants Pass until she passed away in 2019. In 2004 Grandma Aggie brought back the sacred Salmon Ceremony which is now celebrated each year on the Rogue River near Gold Hill. She also was a founding member of the International Council of Indigenous Grandmothers, an "alliance of female elders who promote the protection of Earth and awareness of indigenous cultures".
With this acknowledgment we commit to continuing to educate ourselves and build relationships between our Outdoor School community and indigenous people and to honor the many diverse indigenous people still connected to this land on which we gather.
JULY 2020
We spent a wonderful weekend at Camp Latgawa collecting ideas and exploring all that the National Forest land has to offer for ODS!
We spent a wonderful weekend at Camp Latgawa collecting ideas and exploring all that the National Forest land has to offer for ODS!
