Middle School Elective Adventures

By halfway through my third year at Green School, looming threats of further volcano eruptions had subsided, and the school lifted the overnight off-campus trip bans. I was determined to finally give these middle school kids a real taste of outdoor adventure! By this point, I had better come to understand that not all students (or teachers) shared the same enthusiasm for camping and expeditions as I did, so to diversify and differentiate our camp offerings, I proposed the “Spring Middle School Elective Camp Week.” Without much persuasion needed, the admin gave the green light! I reconnected with some of the locations, and support organizations I had previously coordinated middle school camp adventures with and then pitched my ideas to the middle school teaching team. Within weeks I had organized seven different camp offerings that included both on-campus and off-campus options, which please the variety of requests from middle school teachers. The elective camp offerings for 2019 were:

• 2x The Big Adventure Camping Expedition (in collaboration with Sepeda Bali)

• Creative Exploration Glamping Adventure (in collaboration with East Bali Immersion EBI)

• S.O.A.P. (Student Ocean Ambassador Program) Surf Trip

• S.O.A.P. (Student Ocean Ambassador Program) Marine Exploration and Restoration Trip (in collaboration with The Biosphere Foundation)

• FLOW Camp (On Campus P.B.L)

• Permaculture Camp (On Campus Green Gardening Experience)

With four off-campus, overnight camp experiences and two on-campus (sleep at home) camp experiences offered, we covered most of our bases regarding student and teacher needs and wants. The off-campus options ranged from multi-day hiking, biking, tent camping expeditions on which students carried most of their equipment and food, to an overnight ‘glamping’ camp that focused on creative writing and yoga with a few built-in hikes and ocean swims, to two ocean-based offerings that supported middle school – S.O.A.P.