Students head to the mountains for natured-centered learning

Students painted landscapes, navigated with compasses, and learned other outdoor skills when Campion Academy ventured to Rocky Mountain National Park for an outdoor school day. 
Students left Wednesday morning eager for the day ahead of them. The beauty of God’s creation surrounded the students as they broke off into groups for the first half of the day. Ruth Rawlings, sophomore, looking back on the trip said, “It was a great stress reliever from our daily school work while also being outdoors.”
Students that participated in painting sat on a hill side while Lindsey Santana taught them how to use watercolors when painting mountain landscapes. Students were challenged with recreating landscapes in their point of view. Toby Quillin, freshman, exclaimed, “It was really fun; we learned how to create a sunset landscape using only the primary colors.” 
Jill Harlow walked students around Sprague Lake showing them how to take photos using different depths of field and perspectives. Sophia McGrew, junior, reflected, “I really enjoyed nature during our walk; we saw a female moose and elk which made me happy.” Students learned how to handle the camera while taking photos of nature.
At lunch, students made their way over to Hidden Valley where they mingled and ate lunch. Chef Allen had prepared veggie sub sandwiches, watermelon, corn, and brownies for dessert. For the afternoon, students participated in their second activities of which included: weaving, hiking, history of the park, and becoming a junior ranger.
One of the many activities offered was identification of edible plants. In this class students were shown how to identify edible flora and fauna versus dangerous and possibly poisonous plants. Elizabeth Jureckova, senior, shared, “It was a great experience, we learned how important it is to check with multiple sources, such as books or the internet before we eat anything in nature. We had a lot of fun while exploring and hiking up the hill.”
At the end of the classes, students boarded their buses and made their way back down the mountainside to campus. Village students headed home while dorm students ran to the cafeteria searching for their supper meal. Gwendolyn Cress, sophomore, said when thinking back on Wednesday: "I loved the trip in general and had a lot of fun, but boy was I tired when we got back; all I wanted to do was eat and sleep."
​
Hyacinth Cookenmaster, Student News Team 
Love Pickle, Photos