Sustainable Camp

Robert Jensen at Counterpunch nails some concepts on the head in this article. Accepting change and doing things differently has always been what the zone has been about. Sometimes, a different approach is necessary to counterbalance the tide of conformism and to get us out of the patterns that we develop.

Since school has become a place for the indoctrination of learning - there is no joy in learning - therefore there is no value in the concept of just another school. So as of May Day - the Oregon Natural Resource Research Institute - will serve as a camp rather than a school. I prefer to be a happy camper rather than a teacher, anyway. Since i like to articulate science and do things howdtside - this summer science camp will focus on establishing reference collections.

During May, Dr. Lenny will set up a whirlwind tour of Douglas County recruiting people who share his interest in building a local natural resource supply inventory. The First Science Zone Camp of 2007 will take place in June to network the camp infrastructure. Camps are designed for extended learning in a Redile framework. The three day event in mid-June will focus on establishing the big picture and learning information recording skills. The major techniques featured will be GPS - Global Positioning Systems, Nature Journaling, and Establishing Photo Points. These three areas are essential to collecting information at 59 potential project sites. Three more camps will be operated in July with a much younger focus. The idea is to build the basis for independent inquiry based learning through our museums - in this case - the Umpqua Discovery Center in Reedsport.