The Daily Ardmorite
Ardmore, Oklahoma
Story last updated at 4:54 p.m. on Friday, September 21, 2001
Fun, education, excitement offered at Arbuckle
camp
By Diana Wheeler
Copy Editor
The school bus roars as it approaches the curbside. It comes to a
screeching halt. Then, the bus driver yanks open the rusty door. At the
bottom of the steps stands a child knowing that summer has finally
ended. No more outdoor escapades. No more fresh air. Now, there are
only stuffy classrooms, chalk-filled air, oversized textbooks and multiple
assignments.
But, for some students throughout southern Oklahoma and northern
Texas, there is an escape -- Goddard Youth Camp, or as some call it,
good ol' Camp Goddard.
Camp Goddard -- where summer vacation bliss meets school-year
boredom. Where students leave the classrooms and hit the trails for a
little bit of "alternative" education. Here, students don't learn the three Rs
by seeing, listening and doing, they learn it by digging, hiking and
swimming.
Now, is this ideal or what? Every student's dream come true where
school isn't really ... well, school.
That's right. Camp Goddard is a natural haven nestled among the
Arbuckle Mountains where the deciduous forest of the East meets the
short-grass prairies of the West. Founded in 1967 and kick-started by
funds from the Goddard Youth Foundation, the camp is an
environmental education program designed to teach students about the
ecology of the Arbuckle Mountains through hands-on experiences. Why
learn about fossils from a textbook when you can dig them up yourself?
That's what many schools say, including Seminole's Northwood
Elementary. According to principal Claudia Willis, Seminole has loaded
up its sixth-graders since 1969 and brought them to the hills (er,
mountains) of Camp Goddard for a week of ultimate outdoor learning
experience.
The whole idea of Camp Goddard is to provide "hands-on
environmental education," according to Preston Edgar, Goddard
Children's Museum director. The camp's mission revolves around the
phrase, "Nature through the eyes of a child."
So, what does nature look like through the eyes of a sixth-grader?
Probably not too exciting at 7 a.m. when Seminole's sixth-graders rise
from bed and get ready for the day. After raising the American flag and
munching down some breakfast, the day may begin to seem a bit
brighter as the real stuff begins. Yeah, the real stuff which teachers may
call learning in disguise and which students may call just plain hiking
through the woods. Whatever you call it, it's gotta be fun for schools to
keep returning year after year.
According to Edgar, each school sets up their own schedule. Most
schools, like Seminole, make sure their students experience all four of
Camp Goddard's learning trails and visit the camp's new museum.
Each trail has a theme -- Man and Water, Man and Forest, Man and
Fossils and Man and Environment. Guess on which trail you get to dig
up old bones. That's right! Man and Fossils.
Teachers lead students down each trail and teach them the lesson
plan, designed by camp director Wayne Edgar, which accompanies that
particular trail. While hiking along the trails, students not only learn
about the flora and fauna of southern Oklahoma, they get to experience
it. All of a sudden, learning becomes tangible.
Touching and feeling even follow into the camp's museum where
Graffham Hall holds dinosaur bones and old minerals that students can
touch and hold and maybe even break. The purpose of having a
hands-on museum? "We want them, when we talk about (the exhibit), to
handle it," Edgar said.
And, old bones and rocks aren't the only things the students get to
handle. Another room holds the secrets of an ancient world and culture
native to Oklahoma. A wigwam sits at one end of the room and a teepee
at the other. Both are authentic, crafted by Native elders, and both are
completely hands-on. Students can climb inside of both of the dwellings
and see exactly what the homes of Native Americans once looked like
and even how they felt from the buffalo hide walls to the sinew threads.
In a nearby room, the wonders of the natural world, both flora and fauna,
are exhibited through crisp photographs and ... well, stuffed carcasses
and furry skins. Taxidermists Shane and B.J. Womack created two
displays using stuffed animals one of which is a waterless aquatic
exhibit featuring fish and a beaver. According to Edgar, this exhibit often
leaves the students in awe. "Kids always ask 'How do you keep them
fish from moving?'," he said. At least he knows the exhibit did its job --
re-creating reality to bring the students a little bit closer to the natural
world.
The museum also offers two other special features that show students
just how nature works. Behind the museum is a controllable stream.
When the switch is flipped on, students can see stream dynamics in
motion and may even experience it if they're willing to get a little wet.
And, the museum also has a 3,000 square-foot fossil bed where day
visitors can enjoy a fossil hunt of their own without taking to the trails.
In addition to trails and museum stops, students who spend the week
at Camp Goddard get to have a little fun during recreation time. Many
don swimsuits and lifejackets and hop into canoes for a little lake
experience.
Some of Seminole's sixth-graders, like Jordan Goodnight and Courtney
Manley, enjoyed their time on the water. In fact, they thought canoeing
was the best part of the camp. Granted, they'd only been there for two
days.
Others, though, couldn't wait to get their skits together and rehearsed for
Thursday's performances. Goodnight said her cabin's skit was "going to
be really fun" while Manley swore her cabin was going "to do crazy
dances ... or something."
But, the best outlook of the whole experience came from Jaleesa Island.
When asked the difference between school in the classroom and
school at Camp Goddard, she said, "The difference is that we can come
out here, get away from school, don't do nothin' and swim." Maybe she
missed the point, but then again, maybe not. But remember, this is
nature through a child's eyes
Ardmore, Oklahoma
Story last updated at 4:54 p.m. on Friday, September 21, 2001
Fun, education, excitement offered at Arbuckle
camp
By Diana Wheeler
Copy Editor
The school bus roars as it approaches the curbside. It comes to a
screeching halt. Then, the bus driver yanks open the rusty door. At the
bottom of the steps stands a child knowing that summer has finally
ended. No more outdoor escapades. No more fresh air. Now, there are
only stuffy classrooms, chalk-filled air, oversized textbooks and multiple
assignments.
But, for some students throughout southern Oklahoma and northern
Texas, there is an escape -- Goddard Youth Camp, or as some call it,
good ol' Camp Goddard.
Camp Goddard -- where summer vacation bliss meets school-year
boredom. Where students leave the classrooms and hit the trails for a
little bit of "alternative" education. Here, students don't learn the three Rs
by seeing, listening and doing, they learn it by digging, hiking and
swimming.
Now, is this ideal or what? Every student's dream come true where
school isn't really ... well, school.
That's right. Camp Goddard is a natural haven nestled among the
Arbuckle Mountains where the deciduous forest of the East meets the
short-grass prairies of the West. Founded in 1967 and kick-started by
funds from the Goddard Youth Foundation, the camp is an
environmental education program designed to teach students about the
ecology of the Arbuckle Mountains through hands-on experiences. Why
learn about fossils from a textbook when you can dig them up yourself?
That's what many schools say, including Seminole's Northwood
Elementary. According to principal Claudia Willis, Seminole has loaded
up its sixth-graders since 1969 and brought them to the hills (er,
mountains) of Camp Goddard for a week of ultimate outdoor learning
experience.
The whole idea of Camp Goddard is to provide "hands-on
environmental education," according to Preston Edgar, Goddard
Children's Museum director. The camp's mission revolves around the
phrase, "Nature through the eyes of a child."
So, what does nature look like through the eyes of a sixth-grader?
Probably not too exciting at 7 a.m. when Seminole's sixth-graders rise
from bed and get ready for the day. After raising the American flag and
munching down some breakfast, the day may begin to seem a bit
brighter as the real stuff begins. Yeah, the real stuff which teachers may
call learning in disguise and which students may call just plain hiking
through the woods. Whatever you call it, it's gotta be fun for schools to
keep returning year after year.
According to Edgar, each school sets up their own schedule. Most
schools, like Seminole, make sure their students experience all four of
Camp Goddard's learning trails and visit the camp's new museum.
Each trail has a theme -- Man and Water, Man and Forest, Man and
Fossils and Man and Environment. Guess on which trail you get to dig
up old bones. That's right! Man and Fossils.
Teachers lead students down each trail and teach them the lesson
plan, designed by camp director Wayne Edgar, which accompanies that
particular trail. While hiking along the trails, students not only learn
about the flora and fauna of southern Oklahoma, they get to experience
it. All of a sudden, learning becomes tangible.
Touching and feeling even follow into the camp's museum where
Graffham Hall holds dinosaur bones and old minerals that students can
touch and hold and maybe even break. The purpose of having a
hands-on museum? "We want them, when we talk about (the exhibit), to
handle it," Edgar said.
And, old bones and rocks aren't the only things the students get to
handle. Another room holds the secrets of an ancient world and culture
native to Oklahoma. A wigwam sits at one end of the room and a teepee
at the other. Both are authentic, crafted by Native elders, and both are
completely hands-on. Students can climb inside of both of the dwellings
and see exactly what the homes of Native Americans once looked like
and even how they felt from the buffalo hide walls to the sinew threads.
In a nearby room, the wonders of the natural world, both flora and fauna,
are exhibited through crisp photographs and ... well, stuffed carcasses
and furry skins. Taxidermists Shane and B.J. Womack created two
displays using stuffed animals one of which is a waterless aquatic
exhibit featuring fish and a beaver. According to Edgar, this exhibit often
leaves the students in awe. "Kids always ask 'How do you keep them
fish from moving?'," he said. At least he knows the exhibit did its job --
re-creating reality to bring the students a little bit closer to the natural
world.
The museum also offers two other special features that show students
just how nature works. Behind the museum is a controllable stream.
When the switch is flipped on, students can see stream dynamics in
motion and may even experience it if they're willing to get a little wet.
And, the museum also has a 3,000 square-foot fossil bed where day
visitors can enjoy a fossil hunt of their own without taking to the trails.
In addition to trails and museum stops, students who spend the week
at Camp Goddard get to have a little fun during recreation time. Many
don swimsuits and lifejackets and hop into canoes for a little lake
experience.
Some of Seminole's sixth-graders, like Jordan Goodnight and Courtney
Manley, enjoyed their time on the water. In fact, they thought canoeing
was the best part of the camp. Granted, they'd only been there for two
days.
Others, though, couldn't wait to get their skits together and rehearsed for
Thursday's performances. Goodnight said her cabin's skit was "going to
be really fun" while Manley swore her cabin was going "to do crazy
dances ... or something."
But, the best outlook of the whole experience came from Jaleesa Island.
When asked the difference between school in the classroom and
school at Camp Goddard, she said, "The difference is that we can come
out here, get away from school, don't do nothin' and swim." Maybe she
missed the point, but then again, maybe not. But remember, this is
nature through a child's eyes
Sixth-graders from Seminole's Northwood Elementary School
discover paddling a canoe is not as easy as it seems. The students
spent a week at the Goddard Youth Camp for outdoor learning.
Staff Photo/Steve Biehn
discover paddling a canoe is not as easy as it seems. The students
spent a week at the Goddard Youth Camp for outdoor learning.
Staff Photo/Steve Biehn
A plaque at the entrance of the Goddard Youth Camp informs visitors
of the camp's unique status as a National Environmental Education
Landmark.
Staff Photo/Steve Biehn
of the camp's unique status as a National Environmental Education
Landmark.
Staff Photo/Steve Biehn
A cabin is painted ranch green to blend into the
environment and features three walls of windows to
bring the outdoors inside.
Staff Photo/Steve Biehn
environment and features three walls of windows to
bring the outdoors inside.
Staff Photo/Steve Biehn
Preston Edgar, director of the Goddard Children's Museum, sits
inside a wigwam crafted by an Indian elder. This is one of many
hands-on exhibits the museum offers for children who visit.
Staff Photo/Steve Biehn
A diorama featuring a stuffed doe and fawn preserved by
taxidermists Shane and B.J. Womack allows campers and
museum visitors a chance to see the indigenous animals in
their natural environment.
Staff Photo/Steve Biehn
taxidermists Shane and B.J. Womack allows campers and
museum visitors a chance to see the indigenous animals in
their natural environment.
Staff Photo/Steve Biehn
