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by Jim Parry
A group of excited fifth graders exits the school bus
on a brisk Monday morning – the start of an extraordinary week
of school. There are no sidewalks, crossing patrols, or brick walls adorned
with any "Washington Elementary" sign. Instead, a forest surrounds
the dusty road, and there is a lake in the distance, with rowboats racked
up on the shore.
This group of children is not here for summer camp,
and they are here for more than simply nature study. They will participate
in a unique learning experience called resident outdoor environmental
education (ROEE). These students will have a terrific time, and they
may even learn more this week than any other week in school.
What Is ROEE?
ROEE is more than a field trip and more than a special
day program. Ideally, an ROEE experience is an extension of the classroom.
Good ROEE classes are student discovery-based and make use of activities
best done in the outdoors, in settings not possible at school.
During a few days at an ROEE center, students may take
interpretive hikes through deciduous forest and short grass prairie ecosystems,
and may discover daphnia and spirogyra in aquatic microscopic habitats
by doing a water-study lab by the lake. Students may build lasting friendships
with classmates by sharing a meal in the dining hall or by walking down
the trail, arms around shoulders, chatting together. They learn that
support is real among the group at the challenge course where they cross
the King Kong Walker or the Australian Trolley. They learn, too about
growing a little stronger and independent during a week or several days
away from home.
Common Demographics
School groups as young as second grade and into high school come to ROEE, and
college experiences are common. Upper elementary (fifth or sixth grade) is
most common.
With all of the time required to prepare and energy
spent during the program, a five-day week impacts learning more. Many
groups come for four-day, three-day, or even two-day trips and have excellent
results. In general, the longer the stay, the better.
A common chaperone method is parent volunteers. Teachers
and trained high school or college students can also do this job. Some
centers provide cabin chaperones. Teachers (through pre-experience training)
and the center staff usually share the responsibility of teaching and
leading activities.
The Main Objectives
ROEE generally focuses on two main goals: get to know
people better and get to know nature better. These goals can be further
defined as follows:
- Through a sustained group-living setting,
including sharing of work projects, group problem-solving, time
for personal interaction, and simple fun, students will gain a
greater sense of independence and confidence, and have practiced
and improved interpersonal skills.
- Students will be in a natural setting to
gain a greater awareness of ecological relationships and processes
and the identities of local flora and fauna. They are given some
positive sense of their role as part of the solution to environmental
problems.
The benefits
An ROEE experience teaches students to care more for the natural world. Students
can see environmental living in practice, like recycling, waste reduction,
pausing for the sunset, and stepping over erosion-reducing logs on hiking
trails. They can be reminded that the trees around them help provide air
for breathing and habitat for woodpeckers. They can sing songs around a campfire.
After students have experienced ROEE, they are able
to make correlations between textbook concepts and the encounters they
had during the program. The teacher may say, "Remember when we saw
the waterfalls on the limestone cliff?" Each student feels more
part of the group, with the shared experience in common. And they get
to know their teachers better.
Summer Camp vs. ROEE
ROEE is not summer camp, and it is not a classroom school
experience either. It is a taste of how much fun summer camp can be,
but the experience is rarely long enough to compare with all the activities
and experiences of resident summer camp.
Many camp activities may be reserved strictly for summer
camp. The atmosphere of summer camp is not quite as academic. Students
are reminded by teachers in blue jeans to get their backpacks and journals;
at summer camp, college-age counselors walk around in shorts, asking
kids, "Are ya having fun?" Where ROEE involves nature classes
and group projects, summer camp features more song, games, swimming,
recreation, and personal growth. The two overlap but are not identical.
They can cross-market one another.
The Faces of ROEE
Two distinct models of ROEE programs exist. Although,
these models are helpful, beginners should avoid either extreme and incorporate
the needs and resources of both the camp and the school group clientele.
As varied as schools, students, and teachers are, there is a corresponding
variety in program offerings.
No matter which model is used, the camp staff should
provide a certain service level, including thorough pre-trip communication
and planning, consultation several times per day, written evaluations
and response. Camp staff should be at least partially involved as curricula
are developed and be able to help with supplies and teaching.
The innkeeper model
The ROEE program can be entirely led and taught by the school teachers or resource
persons brought in to lead activities. Resource people might include government
agency staff, such as from the Wildlife or Fishery Department, experts in
related fields, or any person trained to lead a particular program. Some
school districts operate their own program on a leased site for an entire
season or school year. In these scenarios, the camp acts as an "innkeeper."
Advantages
The primary advantage to the innkeeper model for the school is that teachers
are fully involved with planning and student experiences. Since teachers
know the curriculum, it can be easily integrated with classroom work. Also,
teachers know their students, so they know the most effective educational
approach to use to reach them. The advantage for camp is clear: very little
investment of money, liability, or people is required.
Disadvantages
The difficulty with this model for a school is the amount of work
the teachers must do to plan and conduct the program. The down side for
the camp might be that communication with the school is limited causing
an us-versus-them mentality. Another disadvantage for camp may be that
the camp will question whether the school’s program is consistent
with the camp’s mission.
The full program-provider
model
In a full program-provider model, the camp provides food service, all of the
educational programs, cabin supervision, student discipline, medical care,
and even provisions for before-and-after trip programs. The school simply decides
to come, and everything is done for them.
Advantages
For camps, the advantage is that this model will most likely be consistent
with the camp’s mission. Schools will benefit from camp staff relieving
the teachers of the burden of teaching in an unfamiliar setting.
Disadvantages
Finding good ROEE staff for this plan can be a real chore, and it
is not always easy to pay them well or help with their housing. Conducting
similar few-day programs repeatedly gets old for some people, and there
is frequent turnover.
Creating the Program
The following are some ideas to get your ROEE program
starting and to keep it growing.
Consider expenses
The two most expensive parts of ROEE are staffing and facilities. ROEE facilities
include winterized meeting space for teaching classes and sleeping quarters
geared to the size of a typical class. Many summer camp facilities can easily
adapt to the needs of school groups, and many school groups are quite willing
to adapt to the camp facility. ROEE staff can be senior summer staff, young
professionals, or more experienced professionals. Teaching certificates are
generally not required (in many school system-based programs they are) but
are of course very helpful. ROEE work tends to pay better than summer camp.
Professional benefits, housing, staff policies, and any other perks should
be considered for staff. Program equipment can be a major expense as well,
but it doesn’t have to be.
Design a skeleton curriculum
If you are just beginning an ROEE program, you should first create a skeleton
curriculum, showcasing the camp’s facility, natural and human resources,
and solid science and group-building activities. A key step is to know the
target market’s prescribed classroom curriculum and tie the outdoor
program to it. For example, if the fifth graders in you area are supposed
to understand biomes, include the camp’s biome in the lessons. The
curriculum should not be "cast in stone," however; let the school
know you are willing to flex and meet the specific needs of the school group.
Also, keep in mind the curriculum can act as the basis for mutual planning
between the school representative and camp staff.
Know your priorities
Staying in the ROEE business is basically a matter of customer relations. Use
this question-and-answer format to identify priorities:
Q What is most important in ROEE?
A The safety and welfare of the students. The program must be
child-centered.
Q Who are the customers?
A The teachers decide whether to come back, or at least
they make recommendations. Make sure to have good programs for the
students, but please the teachers, too.
Q Who evaluates the program, and who works with policy
issues?
A Reports from those who attended the program should
be sent to parents and the school board, who can be your evaluators
and also your allies. A program with a strong reputation can ride through
rocky times with these people on its side. They are also key marketing
agents for a growing program.
Keep your promises
Thoughtful and friendly relations between people — before, during, and
after the experience — is the single most important ingredient. Keep
your promises to maintain good business relations; don’t surprise your
customers. Many schools love their ROEE centers and are fully aware that the
camp’s primary mission work occurs in the summer. Good communication
and honesty are key.
Market enthusiasm
Professional-looking mailings, brochures, videos, Web pages, and planning materials
are certainly helpful, but they will not, in themselves, help your ROEE program
grow. Teachers will remember good experiences, and obviously, they have many
contacts with other educators. Teachers meet with others in their district,
and sometimes they change schools. They might have a cousin who teaches in
the next town. Enthused teachers are — bar none — the best marketing
tool in ROEE.
Developing Your ROEE Lessons
One method of program planning is to offer a menu of
classes, and the school groups may choose the programs they like, as
time and resources allow. Another method is to create a series of integrated
programs that focus on a certain area, such as group development (through
adventure and initiative-type activities), nature study, environmental
issues, or history. The group’s entire visit may focus on one broad
topic.
Once you have developed your menu of classes, create
the lesson plans. Many ROEE lessons are adapted from those offered by
nature centers and classroom curriculum books such as Project Wild,
or they are published as nature activity books. It is a mark of professionalism
for an ROEE center to have attractive and thorough lesson plans for ROEE
activities. However, many good ROEE centers have no formally written
lesson plans.
Lessons should be adaptable to the various needs of
any group. Most of the larger programs have plans for their most common
classes. A few centers have not only written, but published, their curriculum,
and offer these for sale. Some ROEE programs copyright their lessons,
and others will share their material freely. You may or may not be able
to simply borrow and copy lessons from another ROEE center. In any case,
it is ethical to give credit where it is due. Finally, it can be very
rewarding to develop your own material, and then it is most likely to
fit your particular needs.
ROEE is an intense educational experience with many
components that successfully work together. Starting and adapting your
program to students, teachers, and camp can be the beginning of an inspiring
connection between the outdoors and the classroom.
Originally published in the 1998 November/December
issue of Camping Magazine. |
