For the Three Rivers School District near Grants Pass—one of the poorest districts in the state—Outdoor School was out of reach for most kids.
That changed when one organization stepped up to the task—Pacifica: A Garden in the Siskiyous. Pacifica, which already had thriving nature education programs on its grounds in the beautiful Applegate Valley, utilized a grant from the Gray Family Foundation to launch its own Outdoor School. The pilot quickly expanded into a full-fledged program that served 361 fifth and sixth graders in 2017-2018, and that number is expected to grow.
“It was a natural fit for us,” said Peg Prag, a Board member at Pacifica Garden. “We were all very impressed with the success we had the first year.”
The grant went toward developing curriculum aligned with next-generation science standards while integrating creative expression.
Morning science lessons and leadership exercises out in the forest were cemented later in the day, when kids had the freedom to interpret what they learned through their choice of art, theater or music. The results were skits about predator-prey adaptations, songs about the sounds of the landscape and beautiful eco-art using plants.
At night around the campfire, the students shared their compositions. During night hikes, students observed nocturnal animals before heading back to their cabins.
“It was kind of a rite of passage for a lot of these kids, because it was the first time they were out away from their families,” said Vanessa Martinez, Pacifica’s Education Director. “A lot of them found out they could do things they didn’t know they could do.”
Looking ahead, Pacifica hopes to grow the program to include schools from communities surrounding Grants Pass and Medford. These rural schools are surrounded by some of Oregon’s most spectacular beauty, yet many students have few opportunities to experience nature.
“These are things that could stick with them for their lives,” Martinez says.