By Satina Tolman
For The New Era
This week, 139 sixth-graders from Sweet Home School District left behind their classrooms and headed into the forest for three days of nature, teamwork, and hands-on learning at the annual Outdoor School held at Camp Tadmor.
The event, held May 28–30, brought together students from Foster, Hawthorne, Holley and Oak Heights elementary schools for a unique experience aimed at building environmental awareness, social skills, and personal growth. Now in its 14th year (excluding a pause during the COVID-19 pandemic), Outdoor School has become a rite of passage for Sweet Home students.
Alex Shoulders, education and outreach coordinator for the South Santiam Watershed Council (SSWC), is widely credited with helping make Outdoor School what it is today. Since being hired in October 2023, he spends nearly the entire year preparing for the three-day event. Deep planning starts in January, and during the rest of the year, he attends workshops and trainings to improve the program and bring new ideas back to Sweet Home. Teachers, parents, and fellow staff members consistently praise Shoulders for his dedication, creativity, and the genuine care he shows for the students.
Students spent their days participating in a variety of hands-on learning stations, ranging from wildlife biology taught by the U.S. Forest Service, and macroinvertebrate studies taught by the Calapooia Watershed Council, to archery taught by Wapiti Bowmen, and – new this year – nature journaling.
Students also participated in fun activities like teamwork, line dancing, and making friendship bracelets, among others. Evenings were spent in cabins, where the lessons and laughter continued. Many students tried new activities for the first time, like fishing or theater, under the guidance of trained volunteers and educators.
Josh Dargis, principal of Holley Elementary, praised the dynamic and immersive nature of the camp.
“These kids are having a fantastic experience at Tadmor,” he said. “They get to spend time outside learning about nature.
“I was walking by a group that was talking about a cougar school, and then I walked by a group learning about archery, and then a couple of minutes later, another group was dissecting a fish. So there is a lot of science and camaraderie, and team bonding. There is also a lot of pushing kids outside of their comfort zone and helping them realize what they are capable of.”
Sixth-grader James Drury said: “My favorite thing at Outdoor School so far has been the games,” but he also enjoyed discovering tiny creatures in the lake. “The coolest things I have learned about so far are the types of little bugs in the water and how some are helpful and some are bad. I got to see what they look like and learn about them.”
Phoenix Hayes, another sixth-grader, was the only student to catch a fish on the first day.
“I’ve never fished before or cast a reel, except in my backyard just messing around. So it was a big surprise,” he said. Hayes was also seen encouraging peers at the archery station, telling them, “You just got to try.”
The program is run in partnership with the SSWC, with support from Oregon State University Extension, which manages the funding to keep the experience free for all students. However, resources remain a challenge.
Shannon Richardson, executive director of SSWC, noted the impact of federal budget cuts: “In the past, the U.S. Forest Service staffed five of our learning stations. This year, due to federal funding budget cuts, they could only cover one. That is a significant loss for us.”
To help offset this, SSWC hired four full-time educators this year: Marina Larson, Hailey Bond, Emma Legault and Zach Muniz.
Despite challenges, the program’s impact is significant, participants say. .
“The success of Outdoor School isn’t measured in widgets or numbers,” said Richardson. “Kids who struggle in the classroom often thrive in this kind of environment.”
Teacher Rachel Markell from Foster Elementary echoed that sentiment.
Markell has seen some students “who are normally really shy and you wouldn’t think would enjoy this environment, come and see them volunteering for things and really opening up. There are other kids who may struggle behaviorally in class, go to Outdoor School, and do so much better and do such a good job.”
High school sophomores also play a crucial role as camp counselors.
Many of them, like Olivia Saveskie, never got to attend Outdoor School themselves due to COVID closures.
“This has been a fun opportunity to experience the tradition we missed,” Saveskie said. “Being outside is the best thing.”
She also described learning to lead and communicate more effectively: “Outdoor School has taught me how to prioritize what needs to be done when working with others.”
Trent Harvey, another sophomore counselor, saw his role as part mentor, part guide. Harvey said he was “Helping the kids learn, teaching them social skills, and helping them to mature at a younger age because this age is the one that got really affected by COVID, so their social skills are not as strong as some of the other classes.” He added, “The kids enjoy learning outside and getting their energy out.”
Fellow counselor Austin Hogan noted how much the students grow over the three days. “The kids definitely learn teamwork and how to get along. There are a lot of group projects, and they have to learn to work well together,” he said.
Outdoor School isn’t an isolated event. Dargis explained that it’s integrated into the school year through partnerships and preparatory lessons.
“The people that we partner with do a variety of things throughout the year. They’ll come and do lessons in the class,” he said. Students engage in activities like Salmon Walks and studying the water cycle, visit the local fish hatchery to learn about fish migration, and prepare their nature journals before camp. They will then return with their journals to the classroom for reflection and further research. “We build on things they learn at Outdoor School,” Dargis said.
One of this year’s major highlights was the focused nature journaling curriculum developed by OSU Extension. “It helps the kids get introduced to ways of scientific thought and observation where they don’t even realize it’s happening,” Richardson said.
Markell also complimented the nature journaling: “There’s a lovely art component, and even students who struggle with art get to build different observation and inquiry skills.”
Shel went on to praise Outdoor School for offering learning opportunities that the regular school day often can not accommodate. “In the classroom we have to focus so much time on reading, writing, and math and don’t get nearly enough time to spend on all those things we do our best to build into the day but time is just limited. We don’t get to cover as much content as we would like and the students get more time for that here.”
For Dargis, the value of Outdoor School is perhaps best captured in a moment overheard at breakfast on the final day. “I heard some boys saying how great Outdoor School has been and asking why it has to be only three days, why can’t it be longer! That’s what it is. This is an experience for the kids that they’ll remember forever, and it’s just great to be able to do that for them.”
The program continues to grow. The school district estimates that 186 sixth graders will attend next year.
As Shoulders put it, “Every year, Outdoor School looks a little different. But the goal stays the same: helping kids grow through nature.”