It was his first ever visit to the beach, and sixth-grader “James” couldn’t help himself—he stuffed his pockets with sand. “I want to bring some of this home!” he told his classmates.
Teachers live for wide-eyed, breakthrough moments like these at outdoor school. Suddenly a student from the Willamette Valley understands why he or she should care about what happens at the coast or in central Oregon—it’s all connected.
“That’s one of the powers of outdoor school,” says Steve Tritz, Director of Outdoor Science Education at OMSI. “You pull people out of their natural setting, break down assumptions and things change.”
Each year, OMSI’s Outdoor Science School serves close to 2,500 fifth through eighth-graders from around the state at three locations: on the North Coast, near the John Day Fossil Beds and along the Sandy River.
To attend, schools must raise money to bus entire classes two, three or four hours away. To lessen the burden, the Gray Family Foundation has supported OMSI for multiple years to help thousands of students of all backgrounds experience a multi-day, life-changing adventure.
“Groups like the Gray Family Foundation are really instrumental in diversifying those schools that are able to come out to our program,” says Erin Roden, OMSI’s Outdoor Education Manager.
Once students arrive, the jaw-dropping magic happens. Suddenly the quiet kid becomes a leader, and the problem kid isn’t a problem at all.
“They are voicing their opinions and interacting with their peers, because now everyone is bouncing around and everyone’s voice has equal weight,” Roden says.
