TCS’s Outdoor Education program provides students with hands-on learning opportunities about topics they’re already covering in the classroom including conservation, ecology, and more. Every year, TCS students grade 3 and up take a camping trip to apply these lessons to the outdoor-world and develop collaborative, team-building skills along the way. This year, our students went to the following locations:
- Third Grade: Dauset Trails Nature Center
- Fourth Grade: St. Simons Island and Cumberland Island
- Fifth Grade: George L. Smith State Park
- Middle Grades: Camp Tekoa, NC
The camping trips promote exploration, adventure, and an appreciation for nature. Students make connections with the scientific and historical contexts that are naturally integrated in the geographical locations they’re visiting.
Our fourth grade classes visited St. Simons Island and Cumberland Island in April.
“My favorite memory from my trip was when we learned about the people who used to live on Cumberland Island because I love learning about history,” said TCS fourth grader Peyton.
Nurturing our students curiosity about different cultures allows them to gain a better understanding of the world beyond them and helps them to see themselves in a global context. It also allows them to see how our planet is made up of diverse ecosystems that sustain life and biodiversity around the world.
“My favorite memory was dissecting the squid because I think it was just cool seeing inside the animal,” said TCS fourth grader Alix. Similarly, fourth grader Isaiah said, “I really liked when we went to the beach and caught a lot of crabs. We caught a blue crab and one of the other groups caught a blue crab with babies in it!”
During their camping trip to St. Simon’s Island, students had ZERO ort, which is defined as any scrap or remainder of food from a meal. This was the first time in TCS history that a fourth grade class nailed it on the first day!
“We learned about ort, why it’s bad, and how it wastes money and energy,” said TCS fourth grader Sakani.
The class encouraged the rest of the TCS community to accomplish the same goal and decided to present an ort challenge to the entire school. Starting the Monday after Earth Day until the last day of school, fourth graders collected and measured ort everyday for each classroom and office on campus to discover how much waste they can eliminate within their own community.
Watch the ort challenge announcement they presented below and stay tuned for the final results!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWPQaGO0KMU
