“I hate this place,” was the first thing my sixth-grade mentee said to me.

“I want to go home,” was the second.

Since getting off the bus to Outdoor School two hours earlier, all the sixth graders had done was take a tour and been given a bag of Cheetos. I didn’t understand what about Camp Angelos she hated so much.

Outdoor School has been a seminal experience of many Oregonians’ education since its inception in 1957. It is a week-long program during which high school student leaders, along with a team of adult staffers, teach sixth-graders about the outdoors in a summer camp-like setting. Thousands have participated, gaining a sense of empowerment in the outdoors and a safe space to grow.

Read more here.