Sixth-grade students from across Clear Creek County enjoyed an opportunity to set camp, cook meals, river raft and spend three days of ‘school’ in the wild getting to know their future classmates they will join in middle school this August.
The final field trip for sixth-grade students in Clear Creek County was a memorable one, according to all accounts, with Mountain Youth Network picking up the tab for three days of camping, hiking and rafting.
At least 46 sixth-graders and a few teachers from Carlson Elementary, King-Murphy and Georgetown Community schools boarded a school bus May 20 headed to the Angel of Shavano Group Campground near Salida.
The idea, according to MYN leaders, was to bring the students from the various schools together in an environment that promoted interaction and team building, also an opportunity to meet other students for perhaps the first time before they converge at middle school in Evergreen.
“The goal was to bring students from three different schools together, all from sixth grade, as they’re all going to be coming together in the seventh grade at the Clear Creek middle school so we had students from Carlson, Georgetown and King-Murphy schools,” Mountain Youth Network Youth Programs Coordinator Lucy Perez said.
New interactions
Students were removed from all screens, phones, headphones and watches, according to Perez. They were then were assigned teams in a random order designed to mix the kids from the three schools together where they could possibly form bonds and friendship before advancing to middle school, according to Perez.
Carlson sixth-grade teacher Heidi Lupinacci helped shepherd the camping trip and said she could see the goal develop as the kids started working together.
“You could tell some of the bonds that were started to be created. It was ice-breakers, ways to share part of themselves with other people,” Lupinacci said. “By the end, they were sharing phone numbers or talking about getting together this summer. It was fantastic and I love that.”
A “hands-off” approach from teachers and counselors was also by design, “Let them do it on their own and just being around to help,” Perez said.
Many of the kids said and Lupinacci confirmed: She was tossed from the river raft and safely recovered during the trip. She was laughing while telling the Courant that story.