Learning from the great outdoors

Maya Kukes

BURBANK -- There’s nothing like the real thing -- that’s the idea

behind Outdoor Science School, where fifth-graders get to learn about

science and the environment on trails and under the stars.

Each year, hundreds of Burbank students travel to camps at Lake

Arrowhead and Wrightwood. For one week, they sleep on bunk beds in

cabins, dine in mess halls and transform the outdoors into a classroom.

Sylvia Mares’ son Josh, a student at Roosevelt Elementary School,

leaves for Arrowhead Ranch on Monday.

“He’s very excited, and just a little apprehensive,” Mares said.

This year marks the first that Roosevelt will participate in the

school. Other Burbank schools have participated in the program for 13

years. Outdoor Science School is optional and funding comes from parents

and each school’s PTA. The cost is about $200 per student.

“There’s such a difference between sitting in a classroom and being

out there,” said Larry Johnson, a fifth grade teacher at Bret Harte

Elementary. “At Outdoor Science School, we are hands on. It’s actually

being there -- you go out and see the constellations, rather than just

reading about them in a book.”

Students are accompanied by regular classroom teachers and also work

with science teachers from the site. They learn about a variety of

subjects including botany, meteorology and geology. There is hiking,

singing and a course on outdoor survival. Evenings are spent performing

skits and singing songs.

“One of the best parts was building animal habitats using sticks,

rocks and dirt,” Katelyn Budrick, 11, said.

Katelyn was one of 143 students from Bret Harte who went to Arrowhead

Ranch last week.

“Some of the kids have never even been on a sleepover,” Johnson said.

“They get here and they just say ‘Wow.’ Kids come back years later and

they say they still remember Outdoor Science School. To see their faces

light up, when they talk about it, it’s something.”