Saturday morning, June 22, 2013, we left PS 241 with a van full of excited fifth graders and a car full of volunteers and camping gear (loaned to us from ICO’s Camp Interactive. yes!) We drove to Clovermill Farms, a farm in Oldwick, New Jersey on beautiful land right next to a nature preserve that included a river. This special campground was generously offered to us by Eric Ryan, who had allowed our group to use it two years ago as well.
In addition to the 11 kids on the trip, we were blessed with having two Cat Rock / Camp Interactive volunteers: Diego Vicente and Ivo Gomez, both enormously contributing to the weekend. Tom Perlman and Eric Ryan also volunteered, and Annie Kravet joined us from Urban Kid Adventures to provide additional outdoor education. As soon as the kids got out of the van upon arrival, they ran around in the grass, swang on a swing, played with the dogs. Lots of energy. Eventually, they did get their packs and we hiked down to what would be our campground, an expanse of grass located next to a fenced in area where horses roam.
We immediately set out to pitch the tents – one big six-person tent for the boys and a four-person for the girls. Diego and Ivo had another huge tent. Some of us slept outside on a tarp. With camp in place, we got grounded for our adventure. Volunteers took turns addressing Leave No Trace, going to the bathroom in the woods, using the hand washing station, and overall camp community and safety. Tom gave each kid a scavenger hunt list for the hike, things for them to look out for, hear, see, and possibly touch and collect in cups he gave them. During the hike we found insects and slugs and plants. We heard and saw different birds. The kids examined lots of new things and we crossed water twice, getting quite wet (out of desire not necessity).
When we were on our way back to camp, we divided into two groups: the vegetable garden team, and the fire-making team. The vegetable garden team went with Eric to pick lettuce and radishes for a dinner salad and the fire team went with Tom and Annie to make a fire for dinner. We made chicken on the grill, ‘backpacking’ macaroni and cheese (admittedly cooked on the stove and brought to camp), and salad from the garden. Deeeelicious!
Saturday was the day after Summer Solstice (longest day of the year) and the day before the full moon, so the day was long and the night bright. When the sun went down, we started a NIGHT HIKE, walking out into a huge field for stories lead by Annie. It was difficult to settle down for sleep, but eventually we did, most everyone sleeping in tents and a few stragglers outside looking at the moon, sleeping by the fire as it died down.
Sunday morning, up at sunrise (did I mention the longest day of the year?) A little granola to keep the hunger at bay while the kids made CINNAMON ROLLS that we baked in the fire coals. Deeeelicious! Packing up the camp with the principles of LEAVE NO TRACE was an experience in being thorough a few times over. Shaking out the tents, drying them out in the sun, stuffing the sleeping bags into their stuff sacks, making sure the fire was out, replacing the fire stones back into the woods, covering the fire pit with dirt and then replacing the grass….. and then forming a line to comb the entire grounds for anything we may have left behind accidentally. The site did look satisfyingly the way it looked when we found it.
For a final hike, we went back to the river and everyone splashed around a lot, most fully submerging in the thigh deep water. Someone found a red mite and most everyone sucked on honey suckle from a bush by the river. We hiked back up to the house where we had dinner left overs for lunch and the kids ran around like banchees for a little while before we drove back home, all of them asleep for the entire ride.
Some highlights worth noting:
Cat Rock Youth as leaders
Eric Ryan pointed out: “Diego and Ivo were excellent models of expedition behavior who managed to keep the kids interacting without ever being heavy handed”
Their own enthusiasm in being on the trip and their willingness to work with a couple of kids who sometimes verged on disrupting the group was exemplary. They were playful in their interactions with the kids and were able to see ‘trouble’ before it happened, and talk with the kids in a relatable and effective manner.
Structured outdoor education
1. Outdoor living skills: Setting up a tent & outdoor cooking (showed kids NOLS cookbook, and facilitated hands-on baking activity). The kids did the math to figure out how to double the recipe, as well as all the mixing, kneading, and rolling. Everyone got to eat a cinnamon roll after :)
2. Taught and facilitated activity that taught kids about animal adaptions – specifically camouflage. Also taught / reviewed meaning of "predator" and "prey"
3. Showed kids how to identify local flora and fauna: honeysuckle, skunk cabbage, damselfly, caddisfly larva, etc. Kids were taught how to get the nectar from honeysuckle flower to taste it.
4. Night hike story: allowed kids to make observations about the night sky, and told a myth about why the night sky looks the way it does. Pointed out constellation (the big dipper).
5. Created teams that kept kids involved in group activities, focused on positive self-expression.