A little madness in the spring... (Dickinson)

As I sit inside my living room on this beautiful spring day working on the Hopkins assignments I have due for this next week, I can't help but wish I could be outside.  It's a feeling that I know my students can sympathize with.  As soon as this spring weather comes in and lights that fire under their little feet, it's harder and harder to keep them in their seats- literally.

That's why I was immediately interested when I read this following article:

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/top/2009/04/22-25/OMalley-Kids-need-more-outdoor-education.html

O'Malley is proposing to increase outdoor education opportunities.  While I don't want to get into the nuts and bolts and logistics of this (as well as the complication it would cause for City schools especially), I think it could be extremely valuable if implemented and supported.  I've learned in my two years in BCPSS just how worldly my students are; they have seen so much more than they should have to see.  At the same time, they're also surprisingly naive about the world that exists outside of the confines of their individual neighborhoods.  I'm from a suburb of Indianapolis, IN, and my elementary school had a Wetlands habitat beyond the playground.  Our middle school went on multiple camping trips.  Our high school had opportunities for field work.  Granted, we had the resources (both monetary and land), but I know that our urban kids would benefit from getting back to nature.  

Our Social Studies IST last year arranged for select students from our school to go on a National Geographic-supervised trip to the Chesapeake Bay to photograph the natural habitat for the magazine.  Needless to say, the kids were thrilled to be chosen, and had an extremely meaningful experience.  They learned from professional photographers how to capture the beauty that exists surprisingly close to Baltimore, and they had a few days just to be out of the city.  All of them told me it was among the most meaningful experiences of their lives.  We owe it to our children to expose them to things they wouldn't otherwise have contact with- isn't that the very definition of education?