Bringing Back Camp17thFebruary
“Old school” in outdoor education refers to when camps used to have zip lines, chopping wood, swimming holes and one hundred other things that make my liability alarm scream. Yet this golden age of outdoor education was also run by giants with legendary names like "Digger" and Joseph Jones. They were Larger than Life Titans. You still hear stories of how a van once struck a deer (no kids in it) and the ensuing collapsed radiator was repaired with a paper clip. Then the road-kill was tied on top of the van to be taken back, butchered and fed to the camp. Like their mythic Greek counterparts, these Titans have been followed by us lesser characters.
I started working at camps well after a new wave of educational philosophy elicited terms like "setting kids up for success," "behavior contracts" and "child management." The old school Titans fostered safe and healthy experiences for children solely on the breadth of their character. Today our industry has evolved standards and insightful policies that serve the emotional wellbeing of our communities.
Now our camp programs don't require Titans. This information age has regular Joes teaching regular things. Yet I suspect the reason the Titans were so great wasn't because they were the rock stars of their show. Instead, I believe these women and men brought out the inner legend in all of us.
It's important to remember what we've lost. It's vital to genuinely ask ourselves the question, "Is it worth leaving behind or should we hold onto some part of it?" For parents, outdoor educators and even kids, we must insist that our camps have some Titans. We need crusty old men and women who can teach a kid how to gut a fish, tie a knot and build a log cabin. The more we request and demand a return for the living legends, the more we bring out the greatness in us all.
Camps where there be Titans...
Audubon Society of Portland Steve Robertson, their Education Director, is the perfect balance of old and new school. He was my (Tony's) personal mentor for years. His personal experience ranges from 600 miles up the Amazon in a dugout canoe to looking for the presumed extinct Tasmanian Tiger. He has taken kids to Hawaii, Belize, Africa and more. Imagine if Indiana Jones was a camp leader. Trackers owes its most adventurous qualities to the philosophy of this outdoor ed Titan. This year Trackers is proud to partner in a camp with the Audubon Society of Portland
TrackersPDX We have a grumpy Norwegian sailor for Water, Weather, Boats and Bugs, our Archery Apprenticeship is taught by Jason Craban, professional Maryland hick plus lead for our full-time immersion program and our Rangers Guild overnights feature time of the best trackers in the Pacific Northwest.
Wilderness Awareness School They track wolves with teens in Idaho. What more do we need to say.
