I hadn’t been at the San Joaquin County Office of Education (SJCOE) as a new associate superintendent for very long before I had an opportunity to visit our Durham Ferry Outdoor Education Center.
Situated on a bend of the San Joaquin River and surrounded by hiking trails and open space, Durham Ferry is both a short drive and a world away from Stockton, San Joaquin County’s largest city.
When I arrived at Durham Ferry, I met with a group of young students from Stockton on a field trip before they began a hike that would take them past wetlands, native oaks, and a levee before winding up on the banks of the river.
One student stands out in my memory. For him, a river was something that he had only heard about in the classroom. But in the few moments since he had arrived, he seemed to understand that the hike he was about to undertake was going to be a journey of discovery. When the instructor said that the hike would go to the river, I could hear the awe in his voice when he asked me a question: “Are we going to see a river?” I will never forget the light in his eyes and the immediate exhilaration that he was about to see a river.
It is important to provide outdoor learning experiences for students, and there are many reasons why. The research is clear on the benefits. Academically, students learn more quickly outdoors, and they retain what they learn. It also improves social and emotional development.
The outdoors boosts physical and mental health. It increases physical activity and reduces stress and anxiety. Anyone who has stepped onto a hiking trail or eased a boat into a lake or stream does not need research to know this to be true.
The list goes on. In his call for a statewide campaign for outdoor learning, Craig Strang, the Emeritus Associate Director of Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley, lists these benefits and more, including decreased levels of ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder), decreased incidence of behavioral problems requiring disciplinary actions, and improved science and environmental “activation,” particularly for girls and students of color.
Taken all together, we understand the outdoors provides children a wonderful place to learn, develop, and heal. Outdoor opportunities are exactly what our students need as they continue to struggle with anxiety and other mental health issues exacerbated by long months of isolation and disconnection experienced during the pandemic. The pandemic alone isn’t responsible for these issues. I’m currently reading The Anxious Generation, by Jonathan Haidt. In the book, he notes that the percentage of teens and young adults who report experiencing depression or anxiety has been rising since before 2020. He posits that more unsupervised play and childhood independence could form part of the foundation for a healthier childhood in the digital age because it is a way for children to naturally develop social skills and overcome anxiety.
I can see no better place than the outdoors for this kind of development to happen.
Additionally, just being outside inspires students to ask questions and look for answers as they explore the world around them. Curiosity is one of the great benefits of being outdoors. Since I was a child, I have loved spending time outdoors, enjoying activities like hiking, camping, and rafting. To this day, I still experience the same feeling of wonder and curiosity that student felt the first time he visited the San Joaquin River at Durham Ferry.
All students deserve a chance to have this awakening, to have an educational experience outdoors that inspires a lifetime of learning and recreation.
It’s why we at the SJCOE are committed to expanding outdoor learning opportunities and increasing access. At Durham Ferry, we offer a range of field trips to give schools options for all ages. Our STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programs have field trip plans ready to go, but we will work with educators to craft an experience to meet the needs of their students. Durham Ferry is just one of the locations where our STEM Programs team provides outdoor education and recreation to underserved students, including those in foster care, enrolled in migrant education programs, or living in low-income areas. Some of our summer day camps are funded through a Youth Community Access Grant from the California Natural Resources Agency.
At our Sky Mountain Outdoor Education Center, we offer Science Camp, a residential experience that allows students in grades five and six to spend several days in a lakeside setting in the High Sierra. It is a life-changing experience providing student-centered, inquiry-based, and hands-on learning.
Opportunities are offered year-round at Sky Mountain. The Color the Summer Art Camp is a sleepaway camp for students in grades 6–8 to experiment and explore with various artistic media. Students from high schools across the county join our Youth Mental Health Development Academy to support the mental health of their classmates. Their yearlong commitment begins with training at a summer camp at Sky Mountain. And high school students in the Region 6 Youth for Environmental Literacy network spend two days at Sky Mountain, making connections and learning skills to help them enact change in their schools and communities.
Our outdoor education efforts align with our desire to provide options for students and schools to improve environmental literacy. When students apply classroom knowledge to the hands-on learning environment they find in outdoor education, it cements those lessons in their minds. This is especially true when it comes to teaching the California Environmental Principles and Concepts that have been integrated into the content frameworks in science, history-social science, health, arts, world languages, and mathematics. An outdoor classroom enhances instruction in any subject.
Learning to become environmentally literate is not only important to our students’ development—it is required in the state. Though outdoor education is an important piece, educators have reported they need more outdoor environmental literacy experiences for their students. A survey of state educators released this year that was conducted by The Lawrence Hall of Science, Ten Strands, and the California Environmental Literacy Initiative found that fifty-four percent of respondents said that students never have a multiday outdoor school experience. In that same survey, ninety-one percent responded that students never or rarely/occasionally go on a bus field trip for an environmental literacy experience. And eighty-five percent responded that students never or rarely/occasionally take a walking field trip in their school community.
On a promising note, that same survey showed positive trends when educators were asked about their expertise in building environmental literacy in all grade levels.
Expanding outdoor learning options can help educators across the state reach environmental literacy while increasing the kind of unique opportunities that can ensure every student receives the benefits of learning outdoors.
Outdoor learning experiences don’t just connect students to the subject matter, improving their chances for short-term and long-term academic success. The experiences create a bond between the student and the environment that makes up the world that surrounds them. These students will feel comfortable turning to the outdoors for recreation and will have the knowledge and passion needed to become lifelong advocates for the environment. Their environment.
All students deserve these outdoor opportunities, and it is our duty as educators to make sure that they have them.
2 Responses
So inspiring, Troy! Thank you for sharing the great work you and your team are doing in San Joaquin County. The array of opportunities that you make available to students is truly impressive. Do you have advice to other superintendents who may not have the outdoor learning facilities and traditions to build from that you have? How do other counties and districts start to build a culture that values helping students to learn beyond the walls of a classrom?
With all the stresses in our lives, I have found that one of my favorite places to heal and reconnect with myself is in nature of any type. Our children spend less time outside, running, breathing fresh air and exploring than my generation did as children. I have always felt it is vital for children to get in the dirt, feel the sand between their toes and see our world and all its beauty and wonder. It can excite their imagination and make them more sensitive to their environment. Sky Mountain and Durham Ferry sound fantastic. We could use more outdoor learning even on a school campus. Good luck.