Our Mission
Environmental Education is not just “camp” or another field trip, but an educational experience with important implications for the students both in the outdoors and back in the classroom. Its importance is recognized in the California State Science Framework where it is no longer considered a separate subject, but rather as a theme that should be introduced throughout the instructional program at all levels. Our program is designed to be an extension of your school curriculum. Just as a student goes to the lab to study chemistry or to the gym to study physical education, students need to go the outdoors to learn best how the environment operates. Students can see, feel, hear, smell, and even taste the realities of life around them. Students learn quickly in this hands-on environment, and teachers watch with amazement as their students see what they’ve been teaching all year in the classroom come to life.

The goals for YMCA Camp Campbell Outdoor Science School are based our belief that children are the key to our future, and that their understanding of nature and their wise use of our natural resources are essential to the well-being of the environment. Our specific goals for students are:

1. To develop an understanding and appreciation of the functioning ecosystems which exist and provide the natural resources necessary for our survival.
2. To develop an understanding of the interdependence that exists between humans and their living and non-living environments.
3. To provide a quality experience in supervised democratic and social living, offering a model that encourages living in harmony with each other and the environment.
4. To develop students sensory awareness potential in order to more fully appreciate the many-faceted aspects of nature’s beauty.
5. To increase students’ sense of sell-worth through successful learning and living experiences.
6. To facilitate and motivate the carry-over of knowledge, skills, and attitudes gained from the Outdoor School direct learning experience back to the students’ school and home environments.

Topics/Techniques
While lessons will vary according to individual field teacher, weather conditions, specific class needs and inspiration of the moment, the following core concepts will be common to the experience of all children:

• Adaptation • Interdependence • Cycles/Changes

• Community • Ecological Responsibility • Conservation

Field studies are organized around functioning ecosystems. Students investigate the riparian and lotic aspects of the San Lorenzo River, as well as the unique characteristics of the redwood forest, mixed evergreen forest, chaparral and meadow communities. Field studies include such experiential strategies and activities as observation, measurement, sampling, sensory experience and interpretation, and comparative investigations. Fundamental ecology and resource management concepts are considered in each field study.

Field studies are conducted in a variety of ways. Over the course of the week, children will work in the nature lab, conduct river and stream studies, and hike routinely. Each field group will participate in a daylong hike, approximately 3-5 miles round trip, traveling through several of the various communities. Nighttime field activities consist of a night hike and astronomy study. The night hike emphasizes nocturnal animal life and nighttime sensory awareness.

On the last night, all students participate in a skit-night/campfire with each cabin group presenting a skit based upon environmental experiences and/or concepts learned during the week.

Visiting classroom teachers are invited and encouraged to participate in all field studies and other activities.

Social Benefits
At YMCA Camp Campbell Outdoor Science School, students and their teachers have the opportunity to create a common bond in the outdoor experience, and can carry that back into the classroom to expand and build upon. Students see their teachers in a whole new light as teachers are able step back from the teaching role, relax and just “play” with their students. Teachers also enjoy watching students who normally struggle in the classroom setting, thrive in this hands-on, outdoor environment. During most weeks, we have two or three different schools attending at the same time. Students from each school are mingled into the cabin and field groups, allowing them to make new friends and get to know children from different cultures and backgrounds. Students also gain independence as they spend 4 days and 3 nights away from home, and learn responsibility as they take care of themselves and their belongings (with proper guidance). Overall, CCOSS students learn to live the core values of the YMCA: Caring, Honesty, Respect, and Responsibility in terms of themselves, others, and for the environment.

Our Staff
The outdoor classroom requires special skills and structures uncommon to most traditional classroom settings. Therefore, a qualified staff of California clear credentialed field teachers and trained interns carry instructional responsibility for the program, while classroom teachers lend their important support and familiarity with the students to the overall experience.

Children are supervised in the cabins by high school volunteers who are in camp as part of a teen leadership program. Cabin leaders arrive a day before the students and participate in an extensive training where they cover issues such as behavior management, child abuse prevention, appropriate games to play and stories to tell, and much more. Cabin leaders are assigned to a field teacher who guides them and supervises them throughout the week. Cabin leaders must be in academic good standing, receive permission from their parents and school officials to attend, and successfully complete an interview and the training mentioned above. In addition, each cabin leader must obtain a signature from all of their teachers, which serves as a reference stating that they agree that the cabin leader will be a good role model for children.

Schools can choose to bring their own cabin leaders, or assist our Cabin Leader Coordinators in recruiting leaders from high schools in their own district. Schools that assist in this process will receive financial assistance for their students attending the Camp Campbell Outdoor Science School.

Health Care
The care and supervision of students is supported by a Health Supervisor who is available on camp 24 hours a day, in addition to trained program staff who help maintain established heath and safety standards while students are in camp. All teaching staff are first aid and CPR certified, and carry first aid kits with them at all times. In addition, all field teachers carry a radio so they can easily get a hold of the health supervisor even if they are out on trail.

Facilities
YMCA Camp Campbell is situated on a 71 acre site which straddles the San Lorenzo River. It is located approximately 3 miles north of the historic town of Boulder Creek on State Highway 9, amid the giant redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The site, facilities and services are accredited by the American Camping Association.

The facilities include 14 all-weather, heated cabins for student housing, with centralized restroom facilities. Visiting teaching staff are accommodated in Riverview Lodge, a modern facility overlooking the San Lorenzo River. Each unit in Riverview Lodge sleeps 4-6 and has a private bath with shower. Teachers will also have a dresser, table to work on, closet space, shelves, microwave, small refrigerator, and a telephone available for their convenience.

Program facilities (see Camp Map) include the Nature Lab for hands-on discovery activities, Sommer Lodge for indoor rainy day presentations, Recreational Hall for game times, Arts & Crafts Pavilion, Health Cottage, Outdoor Amphitheater with stage, heated swimming pool (available based on season, weather, and program considerations), and game fields and equipment.

The natural resources available for study at YMCA Camp Campbell provide the quality and diversity necessary for a well-rounded outdoor education curriculum. The area is dominated by the mighty redwoods, but there are other representative ecosystems present such as the lotic, riparian, meadow, mixed evergreen forest and chaparral. The San Lorenzo River is not only the home for small aquatic invertebrates, crawdads, great blue heron, ducks, and occasional river turtles, but it is also the spawning ground for steelhead trout and silver salmon. Several miles of hiking trails, complete with activity areas and vista points, lead students to the homes of raccoon, black-tail deer, gopher snakes, and great horned owl. Of particular interest are the relics of a bygone day when lumber mills and logging crews harvested the redwoods with two-man saws and ox teams. Remnants of the narrow gauge railway and trestle are still visible.