PDX+ODS

From Dear PPS:

Dear Portland Public Schools:

I’m writing to you in the hopes that you’ll find a way to keep Outdoor School going, even in the tiniest incarnation. We will find a way to find the money but we need some time. Completely cutting it would take the wind out of its sails; I know deep in my heart that’s not what you want.

I don’t envy you at all. This has got to weigh on you every day. We all know you aren’t making decisions based on what you like or dislike, or what you think is valuable over invaluable. You have a lot that’s set in place for you and you’re only able to move around so much. Like many people writing to you, I get that.

But there is so much more to this program than just a figure in a budget. I wish more than anything that Outdoor School was never funded by the school districts. I wish they had some kind of reserves they could pool from. It seems like the city should be taking care of Outdoor School. I hope they will now.

I went to middle and high school in east Multnomah County. I was bullied so badly in 7th and 8th grade that I went home every day a complete shell. I was shoved to the floor, tripped, and spat on. I was called “dyke” and “fat lesbian” certainly within earshot of many, many teachers with no reaction from them. Boys would frequently berate me at length, grab at me as I walked down the halls, and bark like a dog when I’d enter the room.

This continued when we all went on to high school. At the same time, my family was busy. My parents had to work long hours and I didn’t see them that often. When I did, they didn’t have time for my problems. I felt pretty invisible.

I had heard about Outdoor School from my neighbor. I moved to the district in the 7th grade, so I didn’t go with my class. My neighbor always said she wanted to be a Student Leader when she was a sophomore, and I kind of just did it to get away from home for a while.

Little did I know that as soon as I got off the bus at Student Leader Workshop, I became someone who was valued, who was needed, and who they were, quite literally, waiting for. The staff had no idea who I was. But they did things no one else had done for me till then— They listened and laughed at my stories and jokes. They remembered my name. They told me that I was interesting, and someone they wanted to have around. We discussed when I would come back for a week of Outdoor School; they said they couldn’t wait to have me back. Other Student Leaders included me in the group like I had always been there. I could find open-minded, wonderful people from all over Portland. The world wasn’t like the suburbs. I could be who I was, and it was like they expected me to be different. Also, I had my first introduction to teaching about science, the environment, and Oregon. I’ve never looked back.

I can honestly say I don’t know what I would have done without this experience. I’m not sure I could have stayed in school, given how terrible it was. I considered dropping out many times. I was just completely swallowed by a giant school. I’m not sure I ever would have felt anything about myself other than the terrible things that were repeated at me all day long at school. I am not saying this as an exaggeration. Outdoor School was the only place I felt comfortable and the only time I was really, really good at something with such consequence and importance.

I spent seven weeks in high school as a Student Leader. In that time I took kids from bad neighborhoods in Portland through the forest and taught them real, hands-on science. I also led (with a partner or two) a cabin group of 10-12 girls. One week, my cabin group included a girl who ended up telling me she was homeless, a girl who was in a wheelchair with Cerebral Palsy, a McMenamin, two farm girls, several girls who got into a fight about race, and a handful of very typical sixth grade girls. This is not that different from most weeks of Outdoor School. And it’s the job of the Student Leader to make these kids see the world through each other’s eyes. Do you realize how empowering that is? Especially when it actually works? Consider that same high school student going off to work in the community. The same one who felt lost, harassed, and invisible everywhere else. That kind of experience is priceless.

I know for a fact that I’m not the only one. Read through all of your letters and you’ll see; this is it. This is the biggest deal. We’re not just fans of a sweet, cute singsongy camp experience. This is as life-saving as any kind of counseling program you could pay for. This is intervention, one-on-one care, and personalized work, for every child.

This is it, this is it, this is it.

Thank you, and good luck to you.

Julie R—

PPS Parent, former Parkrose student.

Following Portland Public Schools’ two public budget hearings (available here, for anyone interested) we got to thinking that there were so many important and impassioned messages from Outdoor School supporters that were lost in the ether once the hearings were over. The board heard from a lot of people — those fighting for Harriet Tubman Young Women’s Academy, against proposed cuts in adapted PE teachers and equity officers for fringe populations, and many more. One thing was clear from attending these hearings: they are looking to cut a lot of programs that help people who need a lot of support.

It’s not likely that the board will go back and listen to these testimonies again, or peruse all of the emails that inevitably are filling their inboxes right now. Many people have a lot to say. So we thought about how we could make it easier for them to read all the letters regarding Outdoor School, so these words were no longer lost.

DearPPS.tumblr.com serves as a space where folks can send in the letters, emails, and testimonies they’ve given to Portland Public Schools. And boy, are they amazing. As always, emails should first go to schoolboard@pps.net or superintendent@pps.net, as well as to any of the other outlying districts in Multnomah County; all of them are facing similar budget situations.

From Outdoor School for David Douglas:

Walk for the Woods 2011 is in the books. We had very low attendance but those who came had a great time. We raised about $1700 today, $2200 if all of the pledges come in. We have raised $8300.00 since October!

 

Thanks to a great crew of volunteers who worked really hard for our event. Brrrr….Parents and students who came shared good food, fun Bingo games, Italian sodas, and raffle prizes. Channel 2 news came out and Representative Jefferson Smith, and candidate for Portland Mayor, stopped by to show his support. He spoke with several students and parents.

 

Hopefully students who did not come due to the weather (cold but no rain) will still bring in pledges.
DDSD still needs $47,000.00 to get to Outdoor School for the short program in the Spring. More events before our December 31 goal. Stay tuned to OutdoorSchoolforDavidDouglas.com  for more updates.

 

I first heard about ArtODS a few weeks ago, and my interest was piqued right away. It’s an arts integration pilot project at Camp Howard, funded through grants and lead by former Outdoor School staff member and accredited art teacher, Jennifer “Jingo” Starkey, along with Outdoor School Artist-in-Residence, Hannah “Minty” Jickling.

Photos started popping up on the ArtODS tumblr:  insightful works by sixth grade students during Photography recreation sessions;  craggy, other-worldly sculpture huts made out of beautiful, winding purple saplings and small branches;  of poetry inspired by immersion in the changing Howard forest on Plants Field Study; and clay animal habitats interpreting the experience of realizing the connectedness of the natural world.

(above photos from ArtODS)

Participation in art is personal, and Outdoor School is deeply personal, and this program just makes so much sense. This fall, most participating school districts are only giving their students half of the regular Outdoor School week. Half of the community building across demographics, half of the time usually spent learning hands-on science in the field, and half of the vital experience we have all shared in Multnomah County since 1966. To be frank, these kids are being educationally short-changed. Outdoor School staff and Student Leaders work tirelessly to make sure every student gets as much of that Outdoor School experience as possible in a three-day week. And ArtODS is trying out something different and intimate,  a new way of connecting to a place and time in their lives that is just not enough.

They might not remember the other kids in their cabin after only three days. Most won’t remember all the facts and data they collected. Through this experience, some of them will remember that every yellowing leaf in the viewfinder of their camera was important. They’ll understand why they were asked to make a video hypothesizing potential consequences of their actions. And they’ll be able to tell you what it felt like to sit in the vast expanse of forest, finding sanctuary in a circle of Vine Maple saplings and Red Alder branches, that they helped build.

But I was immediately struck by one particular project. I’ve written about it here, and I decided that seeing it in person would be the best way for me to share this extraordinarily bold and critical statement.

To give it a bit of context, every student is asked to bring a small sample of soil from a special place at home. They learn during their Outdoor School week about the importance of soil diversity, the significance of differences in nutrients or mineral contents, or how the particles that have weathered over millennia can mean the difference between lush forests and compact parking lots. At the end of their week, the soils are mixed together for a tree they plant together.

It’s the last thing they do before they go home, and each of the science disciplines learned over the course of the week are represented.

The tree is a symbol of growth in the students and their peers. The soil from all over the world represents the diverse backgrounds and individual stories each child brings to a week. The water is poured as a reminder of the extraordinary cycle of mentorship, participation and giving back within the program and in their communities. Finally, a small animal is released, usually something seemingly insignificant, a spider, a newt, a worm, to show that even the tiniest of creatures can represent something huge and important.

So ArtODS has been asking students to write down where their soil comes from. Such a simple gesture that ends up saying so much. These “I am from…” statements are windows into the lives of students.

Jingo and I were talking about this project and how important it is. “This is their life up there,” she said. “It’s where they come from. What they bring.”

Everyone goes to Outdoor School, no matter where their soil is from.

While I was taking pictures in the chapel at Howard, a Program Leader was meeting with a group of Student Leaders, readying them for the small groups of sixth graders they were about to teach and lead.

“This is a really big group,” he said. “So just keep your eyes and ears open, and stay flexible. You guys have done an awesome job of including everyone so far, so keep up that great energy.”

He continued, addressing each student leader individually.

“Ok, [Student Leader's name], you’re going to have a student in your group that does really well when things are active and engaging, so let him carry your backpack, let him be your helper, encourage him when he is participating. And, you’ll have another student who needs a little time to think things through, so listen and wait for comprehension before you move on to a new concept. Try to make review a fun, active kind of game.” He asked the group of high school students, “Do you guys have any ideas for fun review games?”

I just thought to myself, ‘This is totally it.’  During a short week, the students are with Student Leaders for such a brief time, and to see this level of care and consideration, of complete respect and collaboration among educators and students is exactly what is special about Outdoor School.

I left the “I am from…” statements to join two student leaders as they made their way up the animals hike, to a bird blind that was built this fall. As we walked, I asked one of them, a second-time Plants Student Leader, what she thought it will take to save Outdoor School.

She said,

“I just don’t think the school district people get it. I don’t think they know what it means to us. If they knew what it meant…like, I walk through the plants hike here with my group of kids and I remember what it felt like to be a sixth grader. I remember what it was like to learn from my Student Leader, and like, I’ll never be the same. I came back for a reason. It’s not to miss school. It’s so hard to make up the work. I just do it because…I have to.”

As a student in the David Douglas School District, she is allowed to participate as a Student Leader. Unfortunately, DDSD sixth graders will only go to Outdoor School with community support. Please check out Outdoor School for David Douglas to find out how you can help.

I had seen pictures of the bird blind on the ArtODS tumblr. It’s a collaboration of Outdoor School Artist-in-Residence Hannah “Minty” Jickling, Student Leaders, students, and staff. Not only are they actively working on the physical structure, but there is deep conversation and dialogue about what it means to build from forest materials, what the concept of a “fort” or “hut” or “sculpture” means to city kids, and how to translate and measure this experience in the broader scope of place-based experiential education.

Minty and I were talking about this project and how she struggled with using the term “fort” to describe these architectural huts made out of sticks in the forest. “‘Fort’ has all these aggressive connotations,” she said. “We just hope it comes across more open-ended than that.”

For many students, Outdoor School is the first time they’re away from home, for most kids the first time they’re in the forest. The woods can seem endless and scary, and so, so foreign. These huts serve as sanctuaries. The kids build something together with their peers, and when they’re done they’re able to sit inside, and look out. These students are no longer spectators, waiting for the environment to “happen” to them, or playing in a playspace chosen and built by adults. Rather, through this work, they are able to take ownership of their experience, and their place in the forest.

The narrative of their play is a discussion for another time. What I find most important is creating something out of the materials around you, as our ancestors have since the beginning, and just as animals do every day. I think these kids will realize their place in the forest, and how they can bring that feeling home.

Also, these structures are beautiful. Howard is a tree farm, and as such the forest is managed pretty extensively. As you drive in, you see signage about US Forest Service “Fuel Reduction,” which at Howard translates to massive clearing of underbrush. To ArtODS, this meant a large amount of gorgeous natural materials to use. This page does a beautiful job of explaining the process. 

I was really taken by this work, and the influence it will have on students. Outdoor School is a jewel, something so unique and worthy of being supported and cherished. ArtODS is such a natural evolution of this experience, and shows a progressive way of thinking about  participation in science and nature.

As it is in most incredible, important education programs, the funding for ArtODS is gone with the end of this Fall session of Outdoor School. But this is tremendous work, and everyone involved should be so, so proud of it. Please let them know what you think about it, too.

There is amazing work being done at Outdoor School right now involving art and artistic interpretation of curriculum and getting kids to realize that being outside is more than just this thing they are doing for a few days in the sixth grade.

Please, please check out artods.tumblr.com for updates all the time, including photos of student work and links to the Outdoor School Artist in Residence, who is doing great things as well.

One of the pieces that struck us the most over here at PDXODS HQ was this collection of Soil “I am from…” statements. Also, here. When students prepare for a week of Outdoor School they are asked to bring a sample of soil from some place special or significant to them. At the end of the very last campfire, those soil samples are mixed together in a giant bowl, to be used during the final tree planting ceremony. This is an apt metaphor for where the students come from, their week together, and the significance of completing a shared Outdoor School experience. Many students bring soil from their garden, their school, their vacation home, etc. Some bring it from the place where their beloved pet is buried, from the soccer field, or from their grandparents’ house. And many times students bring soil from the parking strip in front of their apartment complex or from the bushes at school.

They have done a tremendous thing here at Howard, via Art ODS. Documenting where the soil comes from is the very best snapshot of the widest possible range of children who come to Outdoor School. Vacation homes to parking strips, everybody gets to go. This isn’t a summer camp and it’s not a field trip. They come from their widely disparate backgrounds and they share this amazing common experience, and then they go back to those homes to become citizens, voters and members of our community.

(via Art ODS)