The best part about camp is that every day will bring a new adventure. An amazing blue sky day today, which is great for hike day. We’re headed for Treasure mountain and Alberta Peak- high in the Rocky mountains at 12,000 feet above sea level. There are still patches of snow way up high, and the wildflowers are just starting to show.
“Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.”
– John Muir
In a recent Edutopia column, Mark Phillips writes about schools, happiness, and nature.
Sounds about right.
Phillips on Nature as a Teacher and at-risk students:
While most adolescents aren’t identified as “at-risk,” there is considerable evidence that an increasing and significant number are stressed, depressed, and/or emotionally detached. Adolescent suicide levels are much higher than they should be. Sleep deprivation is a significant problem. And more and more kids are more connected to their computers than they are to the world outside. Schools and parents would do well to consider that educational programs with a wilderness component could provide both compensation and amelioration of some of the negative effects of contemporary culture.
So today, the Sonlight staff and kids are headed into the mountains. To feel the wind, climb a peak and spend some time in the amazing creation that our God has made.