Outdoor School, The Epic11thJune
There is a place called "The Outdoor School". Officially, you could call it Multnomah County Outdoor School, but the reality is MESD Outdoor School is the spring from which all other Outdoor Schools flow.
Look around our town of Portland, Oregon. A high quality of life, easy social lifestyle and an obsession with all things green blooms from a simple culture Outdoor School created and brought forth over a half a century ago. Down potholed gravel roads leading into enchanted forests, through longhouse dining halls and rustic cabins, along the banks of the Sandy River and down the trails of blacktail deer, no other part of Portlandia's history is so essential to our identity. Don't believe me? Here's my linchpin...
Every 6th grader in Multnomah County has attended Outdoor School. They have spent at least six days in a world populated by epic landscapes and larger than life legends such as Digger, Teal and a Jedi-like wizard named Shade. They have traveled down the trails of Pacific Northwest forests straight out of Middle Earth while learning about the gorgeous and complex living web we all thrive by. It is a matter of fact, Portland is interesting because of Outdoor School.
In a world where everyone fears what will happen next, where people constantly rally over a broken government, where our institutions of four-walled education stopped working long ago and continue spiraling into dysfunction, Outdoor School has turned high school students into leaders empowered to make the world far more epic than our current culture's celebration of mediocrity! And, it has become a secret village that absolutely works for one magical week for every middle school kid in our idyllic Willamette Valley.
"The Outdoor School" has no superior, nor equal... and the awesome secret? It's the mettle and the heart of Portland's green blood.
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Learn more about The Outdoor School
Help out through Friends of "The" Outdoor School
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Come learn with your kids…
August 14 Trackers Family Open House Meet the staff of Trackers Kids. Go on plants, survival and tracking themed hikes with experienced naturalists. Plus, at TrackersHQ learn knot tying or primitive fire skills. Snacks, food and even an ice cream social abounds.
In spite of the rain, Summer really is here…
Sign up for Summer Camps while you still can.
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Kim Silvia Jun 11, 2010 4:43 PM
Thank, Tony! Will you come write for me? Wish I could afford you! :) -Kim "Sierra" Silva Friends of ODS www.passonthememory.org |
