The New Camp

This was the first year of Camp Briarwood, the new option for 5th grade science camp. For many, many years, the district has sent 5th graders to a week-long science camp in Oklahoma, either Camp Classen or Camp Goddard. I think they'd been doing that for almost 30 years. My kids all went, Steve to Camp Goddard with Bob, and the girls to Camp Classen. It was a great experience. I was able to go the last two years as a teacher, and though it was a lot of work, it was a very fun and rewarding experience. But for whatever reasons, and I'm not sure anyone really knows, the district decided not to continue this tradition. Instead, we now take a 15 minute bus ride to a camp in Copper Canyon. We don't spend the night, just one full day and a regular school day. This was my school's week. We were there Monday until 7:30 pm and then Tuesday until 2:00 pm.

I've just got to say...it's definitely not the same. Not even close. The camp is nothing like Camp Classen or Goddard. Small and lacking the amenities and activities. The teachers were disappointed. The trails were not marked well. The cabins with bathrooms needed updating. The toilets didn't work properly. Not good when you have 100 kids with you and only a few bathrooms. We only get one meal provided, dinner on Monday night. The rest is provided by the school and lunches are brought by the students. The district pays a lot of money to this camp, and I personally think it's not worth it. The highlight of my trail was the farm animals. These are actual petting zoo animals (they run a business from this, hmmmm.) but we couldn't pet the animals. I think that was my hardest job. Telling 100 kids that they couldn't pet the adorable little goats and other assorted animals that poked their heads through the fence to be petted. It was hard for me.

So I'm waiting for the survey that I hope will come from the district. I've got some feedback that I'd like them to read.