On the Road with Prince

Dan Prince, Associate Director, has been busy meeting with Outdoor School providers and sites to help build the connections that will ensure Oregon students have great learning experiences in beautiful, safe, and inspiring locations across Oregon. He toured two camps currently hosting ODS programs, Bar M Ranch in Pendleton and Camp Elkanah in La Grande, as well as two facilities in the Columbia Gorge that are interested in hosting ODS, Camps Wa-Ri-Ki and Arrowhead. In Lane County, Dan consulted with Camp Lutherwood about how to get more schools into their open weeks. Due to the connections that Friends of ODS helped make, they were successful!

Outdoor School not only educates students and fosters development for teen leaders, these programs provide excellent job opportunities. However, this is not an aspect of Outdoor School often considered, so Dan includes this topic in his outreach efforts. Last month, he spoke with Camp Arrah Wanna staff about job skills gained by working in residential outdoor education and also met with Stephen Hatfield of Travel Oregon and Hugh Morrison of Oregon Outdoors Coalition to connect about rural economic development and how ODS can help bolster a region’s job pool.

As a hands-on, place-based experience, Outdoor School partners with the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) learning communities in Oregon, as both programs feature—in fact, depend upon—students actively participating in the educational process and applying what they’ve learned. Dan and Kim recently met with STEM Beyond School leadership to discuss how regional efforts align with the statewide ODS program and how FODS can support their efforts. Your generous contributions and committment allow us to engage in this kind of work!