Olympic Park Institute

I just got back from taking my students to the Olympic Park Institute in the Olympic National Forest on Lake Crescent. It was a great experience for our students to enjoy the outdoors hiking, canoeing, as well as learning about streamside ecology, forest ecology, watersheds, and plant/animal identfication. Stewardship should play an important role in any elementary education program, and this institute allows students to directly relate what they learn to the outdoors.

A highlight (not necessarily for me): My 6th graders decided to play a little prank on the last day. We had learned a water cycle song and dance that my students were going to perform in front of the rest of our school. My students insisted that I be in front. I'm not much of a performer and am not really comfortable with that sort of thing, but I knew they really wanted me to, so there you are. We were to sing it three times with the accompanying dance. When I got to the end spin on the third time around, I noticed that I was the only one dancing! They thought it was hilarious. I'm now busy planning my revenge when I take them to the Grand Canyon in June. If any of you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

A little advice: Never share a cabin with five 6th grade boys after an eight mile hike and a dinner of burritos. Can anyone say flammable?