Inside the Outdoors provides life-changing experiences for students and teachers

Inside the Outdoors FoundationBy Susan Brown, President

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My parents instilled in me a love and respect of nature through the wonderful camping adventures we took every year. Many years of camping with my Girl Scout troop enhanced my awe of the outdoors. As an extremely active child, being outdoors give me a much needed outlet and I always have felt much more comfortable when I’m outdoors. When the school I was teaching at was invited to attend the newly-instituted Orange County Outdoor Science School, I jumped at the chance for my students to experience nature as I had as a child. Not only did that week change my student’s lives, it changed mine.

As a teacher I not only observed the complete joy of students connecting with nature but it also was reflected in their attitudes and behavior upon returning to school. Their natural curiosity had been rekindled and any topic that I could relate to the camp experience was eagerly researched. Later as an administrator I observed this phenomenon with young children who went on one day fieldtrips to local nature preserves and parks. These experiences became the scaffolding that other learning was based upon. But it wasn’t until I transferred to an inner city school that I learned the true power of nature.

My students could look out the window of their one bedroom apartment that they shared with at least six family members and see the snow capped Matterhorn but few had ever entered into the magical kingdom of Disneyland. For most of them, Outdoor Science School was the first time they had three nutrious meals a day, slept in a bed by themselves and walked outside at night and not been afraid of gangs and gunfire. I will never forget standing in the dark by a group of my “macho boys”, the first time they viewed the Milky Way and a shooting star flying past. The awes of amazement that escaped from their mouths were worth all the time spent on the numerous fund-raising projects.

The week spent experiencing nature was extremely powerful for these students. It gave them hope for a better future. In sixth grade, the students were assigned a paper in which they were to project what they would be doing twenty years later. We discussed it before gong to Outdoor Science School. Several of the boys said they would probably not even be alive. Their uncle had been killed in gang violence, their bother was in prison. A few wanted to be famous athletes but most didn’t have a vision.

The girls mainly said they would be married with several children. Upon returning from camp, their outlook had changed. Many wanted to be camp counselors, scientists, rangers etc. I’m not sure if any became scientists or rangers, but I do know that many more of these students graduated from High School and are productive members of society, as well as caretakers of the earth.

It has been over 30 years since I took my sixth graders to Outdoor Science School for the first time. Since then it has been my passion to get as many students as possible to experience and connect with nature. I have been very fortunate as a teacher, administrator and foundation member to be given the opportunity to assist in making that dream a reality.

About the Program:
Inside the Outdoors currently serves over 125,000 students annually providing life changing experiences for students and their teachers. Over 40% of the students who attend ITO programs receive sponsorship to do so. Without the generous support of donors, many of these students would not have the opportunity to experience the wonder of nature first hand.

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