5th Grade Outdoor School

All 5th graders in Washington County get to spend one week at Outdoor School located in Clear Spring, Maryland, about 20 minutes from our home. Paramount Elementary had their turn on October 11th-14th which was such an ideal time to go with the beautiful fall weather.

I was able to volunteer on the first day. Here is the group of parents who were volunteering that day as we waited for all the students to arrive!

A deer was calmly eating some grass in front of the boys dorm while we waited!

Here was a picture of the girl's dormitory. There were six rows of four bunk beds each. There was an identical dorm room on the other side too.

Here are some of the girls arriving for their fun week of outdoor learning...

Getting the lowdown on what would happen during the week...

Then came time for unpacking and setting up their personal spaces...

Abby was super excited about sleeping together with all of her closest friends from school.

She was assigned a lower bunk which she was very happy about.

Mom was nervous and anxious about how this week would go, but after spending the day with her, I knew Abby was about to have a fantastic experience.

Abby was assigned KP duty on the first day for lunch. Here is her crew ringing the bell to signal that it was time to eat.

She did a great job keeping the dining hall organized during her lunch patrol and even earned the "Silver Spoon" award for having the cleanest table at the end of lunch!

Later that afternoon we got to climb the "Fire Tower" to get a pretty cool view of our surroundings.

Before climbing to the top, Abby posed with her friends Amanda and Ava...

We made it!! And look at that amazing view behind us. We could see 4 different states from our vantage point up there!

Here is a photo of Mrs. Crane's class after climbing the water tower together...

Abby had a great time all week learning about different ecosystems and how our environment works all around us.

She examined specimens...

Performed some erosion modeling...

Studied wildlife...

And had a wonderful time with a great group of students and teachers!

I think this is such an amazing program and I am so glad that Abby had the opportunity to experience it firsthand!