As students circled at the beach under a starry moonlit sky, two students were blindfolded while two other students were pulled out of the circle. The blindfolded students were tasked to tag the other two students through the sound of them clapping, simulating the echolocation of bats catching their prey. This was one of many activities ninth graders experienced at Camp High Rocks.
This year, from November 13th to the 15th, ninth graders journeyed to North Carolina to Camp Glissonare journeying to the 4H Center at Tybee Island, Georgia.
“We’ll be doing a lot of biology-related activities, things like marsh ecosystem exploration, saltwater ecosystem exploration,” ninth grade biology teacher and retreat chaperone Bryan Moretz said. “We’re going to be doing a deep dive into different groups of living things like reptiles, marine invertebrates, [and] birds. Then we’re going to be doing a night walk along the beach to look for different types of animals.”
The focus on ecology in this field trip complements the ninth grade’s science curriculum, a mandated biology course, by exposing them to scientific theories that will be taught in the future.
“We’re trying to expose kids to some of the concepts that we’ll talk about next semester with ecology relating to things like ecosystem development and ecosystem diversity,” Moretz said.
The 4H Center also offers many activities that complement said curriculum, with day time beach walks, a salt marsh exploration activity, and a snakes and sea turtles activity. Freshman Luke Fleischman particularly enjoyed the night walk on the beach.
“On the first night they took us out to the beach and we went stargazing and we got to look up at the sky and it was really nice just to see the stars and see how much there is to explore,” Fleischman said.
Fleischman believes that the field trip has helped him better embrace nature by exposing him to the outside world.
“I realized that I probably need to go outside a little more,” Fleischman said. “It seems simple, but you don’t really go outside as much when you have technology. You don’t really take in the views and take in how much you can do outdoors.”
For other freshmen like Gabe Caron, the field trip aided in understanding the importance of preserving the environment and ecosystems.
“I took away that we need to do our best to protect the environment because if we don’t, the ecosystems are fragile, and we can really hurt the environment,” Caron said.
In addition to offering educational outdoor activities related to biology, the 4H Center also offers many facilities for an enjoyable experience. Its facilities include 7 dorms, a dining hall, an outdoor basketball and volleyball court, a campfire and much more.
“The campfire is probably the best. The second night we had a big campfire and we had smores,” Fleischman said.
To organize such a big trip there are many things to consider. Guidance counselor and field trip organizer Chris Hempsted goes in depth on aspects of a trip to focus on.
“We located the facility we wanted to use and coordinated with them as far as the logistics such as dorm sizes, activity selection and scheduling, meals, etc,” Hempsted said via email.
Another important aspect that is addressed for field trips like these is safety. This concern is addressed through appropriate student to faculty ratios, trained staff, and constant adult supervision. While safety is a priority, the main goal for this field trip and others is for students to become more worldly, try new experiences and mature as an individual.
“Whether it be biology-related history, math, language arts, whatever, the focus is that the field trip offers kids a really good opportunity to explore the world,” Moretz said. “See things that they may have never seen before. Try new experiences that they’ve never tried before. And so it allows the kids to really grow through these types of things.”