After a couple years without overnight field trips, Big Lake Youth Camp and the Oregon Conference education department partnered again to put on sixth grade Outdoor School at Big Lake Youth Camp. Forty-five students from Cottage Grove, Livingstone Adventist Academy, Three Sisters Adventist Christian School and Tualatin Valley Academy gathered at camp during Oct. 10–13, 2022 for an unforgettable outdoor learning experience.
Different from summer camp at Big Lake, Outdoor School focuses on outdoor academic learning. During this session, classes covered water, earth, math in nature and trees/plants. Class
teachers included Jennifer Youker, from TVA; Sharon Cutz, from LAA; Kim Cornette, Oregon Conference associate superintendent for education; and Bethany Bradshaw, long-time seasonal BLYC staff member. Daniel Ortega, Oregon Conference Pathfinder director and parent of a sixth-grader, shared worship thoughts with the group, and David Candler, TSACS chaperone, brought his guitar and led music in the mornings and evenings.
Additional activities included an evening of astronomy and stargazing, BLYC classic capture the flag, a life-size game of hungry hungry hippos, a salmon migration simulation and an epic game of life and death in the forest.
Some of the most significant takeaways for students were not only learning about God’s creation through firsthand contact with nature, but how quickly new friendships form, the strength we have when we stand together and the impact that small acts of kindness can have on those around us.
Outdoor school boys planting a tree.
Students playing capture the flag.
Outdoor school students out on the point in the lake.
Students playing hungry hippo in the lodge.
Outdoor school girls planting a tree.
Students taking lake temperatures.
Outdoor school students measuring a tree's diameter.
This autumn's outdoor school students pose for a photo.
