Outdoor Science Schools

A Lifetime of Outdoor Instruction

Learning skills well enough to share them

I took instruction from many different organizations over the years, especially through the Appalachian Mountain Club in Boston and New Hampshire. Those programs introduced me not only to technical skills, but also to the importance of preparation, judgment, group leadership, and knowing when conditions had become too dangerous.

My winter training included mountain survival, advanced cold-weather travel, avalanche awareness, and emergency shelter building. We went onto the mountains, examined snow layers, dug avalanche pits, and practiced building shelters that could keep someone alive if an injury or sudden weather change made it impossible to descend.

A snow shelter can seem primitive, but it gets a person out of the wind and takes advantage of the insulating properties of snow. In a real emergency, knowing how to dig in, conserve heat, manage moisture, and wait safely for daylight or rescue can make an enormous difference.

I also completed whitewater kayaking and canoeing instruction, rock-climbing courses, rescue training, and ice-climbing programs. Later, I became an Appalachian Mountain Club whitewater safety boater and instructor myself. Teaching was a natural continuation of learning.

The Children I Most Wanted to Reach

City kids, curious kids, and children who had never been given the opportunity

Our Own Summer Camp at Bare Hill Pond

Nieces, nephews, water, wildlife, and everyday outdoor learning

Summer camps were common around Ashburnham. Camp Winnekeag and other camps around the lakes gave children the opportunity to spend a week outdoors, learn activities, and become more independent.

Living at Bare Hill Pond, however, made our own place feel almost like a summer camp. Every year, nieces, nephews, friends, and relatives came to the pond. I naturally became one of the activity leaders.

We taught the kids about wildlife, plants, weather, and the lake. We took them canoeing, swimming, fishing, exploring, and looking for anything interesting along the shoreline. Outdoor science was not presented as a formal lesson. It was part of whatever we were doing.

Someone would find an insect, a feather, a track, a fish, a frog, or an unfamiliar plant, and that would become the subject for the next half hour. Curiosity drove the lesson.

Continuing With Noel, Sean, and Other Kids

The same discovery repeated across different families

Many years later, when I was dating Bernie around 2011, Noel and Sean had also spent very little time doing outdoor science activities. We started taking them canoeing, kayaking, and into the mountains. We looked for insects, tried to identify trees, studied animal signs, examined scat, and talked about whatever we encountered.

The same thing happened with Cindy’s children. Although they belonged to 4-H and had experience raising animals, paddling opened another part of the outdoor world to them. When Cindy and I canoed the Susquehanna River or kayaked Pine Creek through the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon, the kids sometimes came along and began learning those skills with us.

Every time I watched a young person become comfortable in a canoe, notice an animal track, recognize a tree, or ask a new question about the natural world, I was reminded how powerful these experiences can be.

Where I Could Help Now

Turning an old interest into present-day volunteer work

I have looked at outdoor science and environmental education programs around Florida and thought that this might be one of the best places for me to contribute more volunteer time.

My experience includes field biology, water science, wetlands, wildlife, paddling, hiking, climbing, outdoor safety, mentoring, and explaining scientific ideas to people with very different backgrounds. I have also helped with outdoor learning programs for visually impaired children, veterans, new paddlers, relatives, and young people who had never spent much time in nature.

I would especially enjoy helping children who are curious but have not had access to outdoor programs. The goal would not be to tell them what they should become. It would be to show them possibilities and give them enough experience to discover what interests them.

This is something I still need to investigate more seriously. There are likely programs nearby where a few hours of patient volunteer work could help a child experience the same kind of turning point that outdoor education gave me.