Is ROEE good for your camp?

A group of excited fifth graders exits the school bus on a brisk Monday morning - the start of an extraordinary week of school. There are no sidewalks, crossing patrols, or brick walls adorned with any "Washington Elementary" sign. Instead, a forest surrounds the dusty road, and there is a lake in the distance, with rowboats racked up on the shore.

This group of children is not here for summer camp, and they are here for more than simply nature study. They will participate in a unique learning experience called resident outdoor environmental education (ROEE). These students will have a terrific time, and they may even learn more this week than any other week in school.

What Is ROEE?

ROEE is more than a field trip and more than a special day program. Ideally, an ROEE experience is an extension of the classroom. Good ROEE classes are student discovery-based and make use of activities best done in the outdoors, in settings not possible at school.

During a few days at an ROEE center, students may take interpretive hikes through deciduous forest and short grass prairie ecosystems, and may discover daphnia and spirogyra in aquatic microscopic habitats by doing a water-study lab by the lake. Students may build lasting friendships with classmates by sharing a meal in the dining hall or by walking down the trail, arms around shoulders, chatting together. They learn that support is real among the group at the challenge course where they cross the King Kong Walker or the Australian Trolley. They learn, too about growing a little stronger and independent during a week or several days away from home.

Common Demographics 

School groups as young as second grade and into high school come to ROEE, and college experiences are common. Upper elementary (fifth or sixth grade) is most common.

With all of the time required to prepare and energy spent during the program, a five-day week impacts learning more. Many groups come for four-day, three-day, or even two-day trips and have excellent results. In general, the longer the stay, the better.

A common chaperone method is parent volunteers. Teachers and trained high school or college students can also do this job. Some centers provide cabin chaperones. Teachers (through pre-experience training) and the center staff usually share the responsibility of teaching and leading activities.

The Main Objectives

ROEE generally focuses on two main goals: get to know people better and get to know nature better. These goals can be further defined as follows:

* Through a sustained group-living setting, including sharing of work projects, group problem-solving, time for personal interaction, and simple fun, students will gain a greater sense of independence and confidence, and have practiced and improved interpersonal skills.

* Students will be in a natural setting to gain a greater awareness of ecological relationships and processes and the identities of local flora and fauna. They are given some positive sense of their role as part of the solution to environmental problems.

The benefits

An ROEE experience teaches students to care more for the natural world. Students can see environmental living in practice, like recycling, waste reduction, pausing for the sunset, and stepping over erosion-reducing logs on hiking trails. They can be reminded that the trees around them help provide air for breathing and habitat for woodpeckers. They can sing songs around a campfire.

After students have experienced ROEE, they are able to make correlations between textbook concepts and the encounters they had during the program. The teacher may say, "Remember when we saw the waterfalls on the limestone cliff?" Each student feels more part of the group, with the shared experience in common. And they get to know their teachers better.

Summer Camp vs. ROEE

ROEE is not summer camp, and it is not a classroom school experience either. It is a taste of how much fun summer camp can be, but the experience is rarely long enough to compare with all the activities and experiences of resident summer camp.

Many camp activities may be reserved strictly for summer camp. The atmosphere of summer camp is not quite as academic. Students are reminded by teachers in blue jeans to get their backpacks and journals; at summer camp, college-age counselors walk around in shorts, asking kids, "Are ya having fun?" Where ROEE involves nature classes and group projects, summer camp features more song, games, swimming, recreation, and personal growth. The two overlap but are not identical. They can cross-market one another.

The Faces of ROEE

Two distinct models of ROEE programs exist. Although, these models are helpful, beginners should avoid either extreme and incorporate the needs and resources of both the camp and the school group clientele. As varied as schools, students, and teachers are, there is a corresponding variety in program offerings.

No matter which model is used, the camp staff should provide a certain service level, including thorough pre-trip communication and planning, consultation several times per day, written evaluations and response. Camp staff should be at least partially involved as curricula are developed and be able to help with supplies and teaching.

The innkeeper model

The ROEE program can be entirely led and taught by the school teachers or resource persons brought in to lead activities. Resource people might include government agency staff, such as from the Wildlife or Fishery Department, experts in related fields, or any person trained to lead a particular program. Some school districts operate their own program on a leased site for an entire season or school year. In these scenarios, the camp acts as an "innkeeper."

Advantages

The primary advantage to the innkeeper model for the school is that teachers are fully involved with planning and student experiences. Since teachers know the curriculum, it can be easily integrated with classroom work. Also, teachers know their students, so they know the most effective educational approach to use to reach them. The advantage for camp is clear: very little investment of money, liability, or people is required.

Disadvantages

The difficulty with this model for a school is the amount of work the teachers must do to plan and conduct the program. The down side for the camp might be that communication with the school is limited causing an us-versus-them mentality. Another disadvantage for camp may be that the camp will question whether the school's program is consistent with the camp's mission.

The full program-provider model

In a full program-provider model, the camp provides food service, all of the educational programs, cabin supervision, student discipline, medical care, and even provisions for before-and-after trip programs. The school simply decides to come, and everything is done for them.

Advantages

For camps, the advantage is that this model will most likely be consistent with the camp's mission. Schools will benefit from camp staff relieving the teachers of the burden of teaching in an unfamiliar setting.

Disadvantages

Finding good ROEE staff for this plan can be a real chore, and it is not always easy to pay them well or help with their housing. Conducting similar few-day programs repeatedly gets old for some people, and there is frequent turnover.

Creating the Program

The following are some ideas to get your ROEE program starting and to keep it growing.

Consider expenses

The two most expensive parts of ROEE are staffing and facilities. ROEE facilities include winterized meeting space for teaching classes and sleeping quarters geared to the size of a typical class. Many summer camp facilities can easily adapt to the needs of school groups, and many school groups are quite willing to adapt to the camp facility. ROEE staff can be senior summer staff, young professionals, or more experienced professionals. Teaching certificates are generally not required (in many school system-based programs they are) but are of course very helpful. ROEE work tends to pay better than summer camp. Professional benefits, housing, staff policies, and any other perks should be considered for staff. Program equipment can be a major expense as well, but it doesn't have to be.

Design a skeleton curriculum

If you are just beginning an ROEE program, you should first create a skeleton curriculum, showcasing the camp's facility, natural and human resources, and solid science and group-building activities. A key step is to know the target market's prescribed classroom curriculum and tie the outdoor program to it. For example, if the fifth graders in you area are supposed to understand biomes, include the camp's biome in the lessons. The curriculum should not be "cast in stone," however; let the school know you are willing to flex and meet the specific needs of the school group. Also, keep in mind the curriculum can act as the basis for mutual planning between the school representative and camp staff.

Know your priorities

Staying in the ROEE business is basically a matter of customer relations. Use this question-and-answer format to identify priorities:

Q What is most important in ROEE?

A The safety and welfare of the students. The program must be child-centered.

Q Who are the customers?

A The teachers decide whether to come back, or at least they make recommendations. Make sure to have good programs for the students, but please the teachers, too.

Q Who evaluates the program, and who works with policy issues?

A Reports from those who attended the program should be sent to parents and the school board, who can be your evaluators and also your allies. A program with a strong reputation can ride through rocky times with these people on its side. They are also key marketing agents for a growing program.

Keep your promises

Thoughtful and friendly relations between people - before, during, and after the experience - is the single most important ingredient. Keep your promises to maintain good business relations; don't surprise your customers. Many schools love their ROEE centers and are fully aware that the camp's primary mission work occurs in the summer. Good communication and honesty are key.

Market enthusiasm

Professional-looking mailings, brochures, videos, Web pages, and planning materials are certainly helpful, but they will not, in themselves, help your ROEE program grow. Teachers will remember good experiences, and obviously, they have many contacts with other educators. Teachers meet with others in their district, and sometimes they change schools. They might have a cousin who teaches in the next town. Enthused teachers are - bar none - the best marketing tool in ROEE.

Developing Your ROEE Lessons

One method of program planning is to offer a menu of classes, and the school groups may choose the programs they like, as time and resources allow. Another method is to create a series of integrated programs that focus on a certain area, such as group development (through adventure and initiative-type activities), nature study, environmental issues, or history. The group's entire visit may focus on one broad topic.

Once you have developed your menu of classes, create the lesson plans. Many ROEE lessons are adapted from those offered by nature centers and classroom curriculum books such as Project Wild, or they are published as nature activity books. It is a mark of professionalism for an ROEE center to have attractive and thorough lesson plans for ROEE activities. However, many good ROEE centers have no formally written lesson plans.

Lessons should be adaptable to the various needs of any group. Most of the larger programs have plans for their most common classes. A few centers have not only written, but published, their curriculum, and offer these for sale. Some ROEE programs copyright their lessons, and others will share their material freely. You may or may not be able to simply borrow and copy lessons from another ROEE center. In any case, it is ethical to give credit where it is due. Finally, it can be very rewarding to develop your own material, and then it is most likely to fit your particular needs.

ROEE is an intense educational experience with many components that successfully work together. Starting and adapting your program to students, teachers, and camp can be the beginning of an inspiring connection between the outdoors and the classroom.

A Brief History

The first ROEE center was established in Dowling, Michigan, near Battle Creek, on Clear Lake in the 1920s. A program still operates there and is run by Battle Creek's Public Schools.

By the late 1950s and early 1960s, ROEE centers were operating around the country on a regular basis. By the close of the 1960s, the concept had exploded. A school group in nearly every state had participated in an ROEE experience.

In 1984, the YMCA officially recognized ROEE as a part of its camping programs. Research shows that YMCA camps served well over 161,653 students in 1996. At some YMCA camps, ROEE makes up as much as 75 percent of the camp's annual revenue.

ROEE occurs at nearly every kind of camp facility. Currently, many camps have converted to year-round youth facilities. Other facilities operate primarily as ROEE centers, especially those owned or sponsored officially by schools or districts, and some centers serve as outlets for colleges and universities.

Points to Consider

The camp staff person should do several things when conceiving an ROEE program.

* Consider the existing camp community (staff, board, alumni, other friends) and the camp mission. Will an ROEE program be too much of a shake-up?

* Take close note of the camp facilities. Try to see the place through the eyes of an educator. Ask these important questions:

* Are some facilities "summer only"?

* Are there any areas which should be kept off limits to school groups?

* How can existing programs and facilities adapt to ROEE?

* What meeting and classroom spaces exist?

* Where will groups sleep?

* Will teachers stay with, or separate from, the students?

* What ecological resources exist?

* Are there, or could there be, good places for nature walks that demonstrate certain concepts or varied habitats?

* Are paths and buildings ready for increased traffic?

* How much storage space is available for class supplies or for separate storage of summer-only materials?

* What facilities will teaching staff need?

* Prepare your office and clerical support for increased work loads.

* Plan for the legal aspects of the program.

* On paper, ROEE programs are usually treated as group-facility leases. Draft and review these documents.

* Establish group use policies in areas such as quiet time, consequences for facility damage, alcohol, smoking, and medical care responsibilities.

* Make a marketing strategy - Check out the competition. What are the other local ROEE centers doing? Do you see a niche left for you to fill? Is the camp remote and hard for schools to get to?

Jim Parry is the outdoor school director at Camp Classen YMCA in southern Oklahoma. Camp Classen serves about 9,000 students each year in ROEE. The camp also offers summer youth camp, weekend family programs, and group camping opportunities.