The Iowa-Missouri Conference Office of Education sponsored its annual Outdoor School, Sept. 19-21 at Camp Heritage.
Each fall, 5th and 6th graders from around the conference are invited to participate in the three-day event designed to bring the students closer to nature. This year’s Outdoor School brought together 71 students and 18 sponsors, representing 11 conference schools and two home schools.
Classes included weather, stars, and orienteering and were structured to coincide with Pathfinder honor requirements for those subjects, since many of the students who attend are also members of local Pathfinder clubs. Students working toward honors were able to accomplish all or most of the honor requirements of their subject area.
Mrs. Connie Sunderland, head-teacher from the Golden Valley SDA School in Clinton, Missouri, taught the weather honor class; Mr. Richard Booth, principal/teacher from the Moberly School, taught the stars honor class; and Dr. Joe Allison, Superintendent of Education, taught the orienteering honor class.
In addition to the class work, students attended worships, participated in organized games and a Bible search challenge. Each cabin group kept the camp looking great with various daily work duties. The students enjoyed great food prepared by Valerie Haveman, with most rating the meals a 5 on a scale of 1 to 5. Steve Patten, camp ranger, made the students and sponsors feel welcomed and assisted to help make the event a success.
Most 6th graders echoed the request of one young student: “I love Outdoor School. I want to come back again, please!” A 5th grader wrote, “Outdoor School was super fun, and I can’t wait to go next year.”
