Elizabeth Larrison
Every fall and spring for over 50 years, thousands of Oregon sixth graders load onto yellow buses and head out into the woods for a week of Outdoor School. Sixth graders aren’t the only students at Outdoor School, however — there are also hundreds of high school students who volunteer their time to be Student Leaders, taking care of and teaching the sixth grade students. But this year, Outdoor School will be looking a bit different. Outdoor Schools state-wide are facing a 20% funding shortage due to a budget cut decision from the Oregon Legislature. To continue to run, Multnomah County Outdoor Schools will be shortening their weeks from 6 days to 4 days.
At Benson, there are 44 students volunteering their time to Outdoor School this fall. One of them, Senior Han “Soobi” Quach, said that “one of the things that immediately stood out to me about ODS was the amazing community. All of the counselors were incredible and it was clear that ODS was a very special place to everyone that went there.” The sense of community between Student Leaders and with students and staff is something many Students Leaders highly value.
Edmond “BFG” Barringer, a Senior who is preparing for his fourth week as a Student Leader at Kuratli Outdoor School, said that one of the things he loves most about Outdoor School is “forming connections with the students, other student leaders, and the staff.” He is concerned that “with the shortened week, we won’t be able to build as much rapport with the students and therefore won’t be able to teach them as much.”
Marvin “Tiny Tim” Kolbow, said that the shortened week makes them worried for the future of Outdoor School.
“Four days is absolutely horrific; it’s just not enough time,” Soobi said about the shortened week. “For a lot of kids, ODS might be their singular sleep away camp experience. They should be given the time needed to enjoy it.” Outdoor School serves students from all different types of families, cultures, and financial backgrounds. The Outdoor School provides those students with an opportunity to get the experience of sleep-away camp that many wouldn’t get otherwise, for free.
Many Student Leaders worry that the educational aspects of Outdoor School will suffer. RiverCrow “StormSpider” Snyder, a Senior who has done three weeks of Outdoor School, wondered “how much education are the kids losing out on because of these budget cuts?” He continued, “this isn’t the most important thing for our state to be spending money on, but it makes me sad to see […] camps losing resources and time because of it.”
“Education has been hurt enough,” BFG said.
Soobi agreed, “[four days is] also not enough time for them to experience the full water, soil, animals, and plants curriculum, which provides hands-on learning that can’t be replicated in their everyday classroom.”
Another Student Leader, Jeff “Sloth” Martin, had a different perspective on the shortened week, “It’s personally great for me because if I get scheduled [to work] on a Monday it means I don’t have to call out,” Sloth said “but it does suck for the kids, and I’m quite sad about that.”