President’s Corner: Like Christmas Vacation!
By Children Rising | May 1, 2017
Over the past eleven years Children Rising has channeled thousands of Oakland/East Bay public school students into Mission Springs Outdoor Education (MSOE) camp in the Santa Cruz mountains. Our maiden voyage was February 21-23, 2006 when some 30 students from Burckhalter Elementary headed for Mission Springs. I’ll never forget the fifth-grade girl who upon arrival climbed down from the bus and fell to her knees yelling, “I want to stay here for the rest of my life!” Who would have guessed that science camp would become a Burckhalter tradition?
Fast-forward 12 years to April 10-12, 2017: Burckhalter innercity kids under towering redwoods were engaged in hands-on science and team-building activities. MSOE trained naturalists covered topics such as ecology, ornithology, stream ecology, invertebrate zoology and organic gardening. Fifth-grade teacher Lisa Oler continues to welcome this extraordinary enrichment opportunity for her students. “My students anticipate science camp as though it were Christmas vacation!”
For the children,
Randy
