Originally published by Pat Hickey, Author and Columnist, Reno Gazette-Journal, published 12:01 p.m. Nov. 25, 2024 | Updated 12:17 p.m. PT Nov. 25, 2024; https://www.rgj.com/story/opinion/2024/11/25/for-sierra-nevada-journeys-participants-nature-is-a-good-classroom/76571691007/
America’s education system was created in the 1800s. Some would say it’s in need of a tuneup, or even a major rebuild. I’d be one of those. And so are the innovative folks who started Sierra Nevada Journeys, an outdoor learning camp that teaches science utilizing Mother Nature, and life skills using human-created ropes and barriers on challenge courses, to thousands of area students.
Some experts argue that traditional classrooms are considered outdated for children’s education, primarily because they often lack flexibility, fail to cater to individual learning styles, and do not adequately prepare students for the demands of a rapidly changing world which requires skills like critical thinking, collaboration and adaptability — which are not always emphasized in a traditional classroom setting.
For centuries, children have been confined in crowded classrooms and taught the same standard things: reading, writing, math, science and history. Even though the knowledge and skills gained from these educational building blocks are crucial parts of a young person’s education, they aren’t always best understood in a drab setting seated in confining desks taught by a “sage on the stage,” who can’t possibly paint a picture of biology quite like a meadow and a pond with live tadpoles can.
Founded in 2006, Sierra Nevada Journeys Outdoor Education Camp is located on 515-acres, just north of Reno in Plumas County, California. More than 10,000 students a year from Nevada and northern California attend their innovative outdoor, science-based education programs for youth to “develop critical thinking skills and to inspire natural resource stewardship.” In other words: Kids are out of the classroom, frequently in overnight experiences with their teachers and fellow students learning about nature, and — just as importantly — themselves.
I visited the camp recently and witnessed students and their teachers wandering the nature trails, cleaning the cafeteria where they eat, and navigating rope courses and climbing barriers meant to teach them trust and many of the skills they’ll face later in Real Life 101.
Spending the afternoon interacting with students and staff at the camp, I witnessed an unbridled joy in student groups, some of whom are staying in the camp setting for two nights, unhooked from their cellphones, to the delight of teachers and students alike. Tall trees housing zip line courses and wood bench amphitheaters appear to have more than enough allure — at least for the time being — to cause kids to forgo their constant-companion digital devices.
Sierra Nevada Journeys CEO Sean Hill has the innate passion of an outdoors enthusiast who appears to be enjoying the experience as much as kids from urban settings do. For many of the campers, it’s their first venture into nature. Sean, who tells me he would rather be “the guide on the side” than “the sage on the stage,” explains the three main focuses of the camp’s programs are “critical thinking, connecting to the outdoors, and youth development.”
Jonathan Haidt, the famed social psychologist who has gained notoriety in writing about political polarization and getting rid of cellphones in classrooms, writes in his book, "The Coddling of the American Mind": “Before the 1990s, kids experienced more risk, more thrills, more physical injuries, and fewer psychological injuries than they do today. Kids had more freedom to make mistakes and learn from them.”
Students who attend the camp experiences at the Camp get to experience a little of both, with the exception of physical injuries which are rare or non-existent in the Challenge Course which involves highly monitored climbing on towers with ropes, ascending barriers and trust-creating activities that often lead to an indelible impression on the mindset of a growing young person.
Commenting on the experience of the Challenge Course, students say:
“You made school a thousand times better. My favorite day was the challenge course.” – Austin, student, Overnight Outdoor Learning
“The wall on the challenge course completely changed my view on teamwork!” – Gigi, student, Overnight Outdoor Learning
"Camp is so amazing the way you bring people who would never be friends; then, we went to camp and became friends.” – Morgan, student, Overnight Outdoor Learning
It’s why a foray from the unnatural world of four-walled classrooms into the living ecology on a Sierra Nevada mountainside is such a revelation and learning tool for many of the students whose classes sign up and attend.
An experience in nature with peers outside of the usual social constraints seems to leave a lasting benefit for students when they return after the camp to the traditional classroom.
Even Horace Mann, who championed the idea of a universal public education system in the United States, once wrote: “A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron.”
No cold iron appears to be a problem to the students attending one of the science camps at Sierra Nevada Journeys:
“I learned that you can’t see colors in the dark and also how to identify different bugs using a dichotomous key.” – John, student, Overnight Outdoor Learning
“My favorite part of the field trip was the night hike. I learned that animals that can see in the night are called nocturnal.” Chris, student, Overnight Outdoor Learning
Bella, a student at Overnight Outdoor Learning, said she learned that “the sun is the closest star to Earth.”
It would seem that fires *besides the one’s campers sit around before sleep takes over after of strenuous activities) gets lit more easily in the minds of attending students in these natural settings.
Dan Klaitch, a Sierra Nevada Journeys board member and past chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, understands how important it is to unlock the desire for learning: “You and I have had the privilege of growing up with the incredible beauty of the Sierra all around us. It is difficult to realize that there are so many young men and women in our communities who have not had that experience. It is humbling when kids see stars in a blackened sky for the first time, or catch a tadpole. All this happens in an environment where we stress teamwork, respect and an understanding of our obligation to steward our environment for generations to come.”
Seems like a win-win for both students and their schools. Thousands of students from WCSD schools, public charter schools and private religious schools attend programs at the rural facility each year.
The 18th-century English poet William Wordsworth wrote: “Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher.” We would be wise to give the next generation every opportunity to experience that in our own beautiful backyard.
As a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, Sierra Nevada Journeys raises scholarship funds for local youth to participate in overnight programs. For every donation made by a new Nevada donor until the end of the year, your gift will be matched, dollar-for-dollar, up to $10,000. Go to sierranevadajourneys.org if you wish to donate.
"Memo from the Middle" is an opinion column written by RGJ columnist Pat Hickey, a member of the Nevada Legislature from 1996 to 2016.
