The Lawrence Ledger, Lawrenceville, NJ - Wednesday, December 1, 1982
Outdoor education has bigger scope
at the junior high
By TOM LEDERER
Managing Editor
It's outdoor education, but the way Lawrence Junior High teacher Bud Rue concocts it, there is a lot of life education mixed in with it too.
This fall three groups of about 10 eighth and ninth grade students traveled to Milanville, Pa., on the upper Delaware River, to a camp where Mr. happens to be a trustee.
Word of mouth has made the trips a popular activity for students, and Mr. Rue is planning to follow up with ski trips this winter.
Leaving early Friday afternoon in buses provided by the board of education, the students and adults take a scenic and educational route through the Delaware Water Gap, and arrive about 3:30 p.m. in Camp Innisfree. What follows is a combination of work assignments from teachers, household duties which include planning preparation of meals and keeping the camp building clean as well as having fun enjoying the upper Delaware area.
Rafting the Delaware at Skinners Falls, swimming under a waterfall at a remote stream, volleyball games, hiking and fishing and sharing a bonfire are part of the crowded schedule Mr. Rue carefully arranges. Besides taking enjoyment from the area there is some giving back as well. The kids have cleaned up garbage in the Skinners Falls, for example.
Two teachers give each student an assignment to complete at the camp under a contract system. A social studies teacher assigned one student to interview local residents of a once-prosperous mill town nearby. A frequent assignment from English teachers is to keep a journal. Math teachers have assigned students to measure the width and rate of flow of the river. Biology and geology teachers have also made good use of the area in their assignments, Mr. Rue said.
With that crowded schedule (departure for home is 8:15 Sunday morning) Mr. Rue says he also squeezes in what he calls his "hidden agenda." "It's developing a responsibility for the group and other kids," he said.
One problem that has cropped up, for example, is money. There is a general store near the camp, and over-spending by some kids has as well as just how much how much money people should bring has been one subject for discussion.
On Saturday evening, the kids meet with Mr. Rue, who is usually accompanied to the camp by his wife Ann and health teacher Kathy Edmunds or by science teacher Nadine Marty and husband Quenton. "We talk about any problems that may have developed. We try to get across that it's crucial to get along wherever we are. Our little group is a microcosm of society and it's important to get kids concerned about how the other kids feel; we all have an impact on each other.
