The Taconic Outdoor Education Center
by Mr. Davis
On September 29 the fourth grade boarded a private coach for the Taconic Outdoor Education Center, located sixty miles north of Manhattan in Cold Springs, New York. The center is part of the New York State Parks Department and provides many educational programs for students from elementary school through college. It also occasionally serves as a young city dweller’s first introduction to the great outdoors. Many of the field guides visited the center when they were in elementary school. The guides pursued degrees in science and environmental education and then returned to the center to work. We were lucky to have them teach us.
Though the forecasters predicted rain, the weather cooperated nicely. Upon our arrival, our instructors ushered us quickly into the pavilion and broke our large class into smaller groups of nine or ten boys. After a quick orientation, we headed outdoors.
The purpose for our particular visit to the Taconic Outdoor Education Center was to learn how to work better as a team. The instructors designed the course as a series of stations in which the boys were presented with various tasks. Each station required them to work toward a common goal. For example, the boys launched themselves on a rope swing at one station and landed on a small platform. They were required to plan ahead, make room for each other, and catch each other as they came across. Another activity involved figuring out how to climb through a tire that was positioned four feet above the ground. On “The Whale Watcher” they were required to stand on a plank and balance it without letting the plank touch the ground. Each station had a purpose and the boys became better at accomplishing the goals as the day continued. Each task required the boys to communicate in different ways and to think strategically about accomplishing a goal.
The boys all said they had a great time. Our hope is that they can now apply some of the lessons learned back in the classroom and at home.
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On September 29 the fourth grade boarded a private coach for the Taconic Outdoor Education Center, located sixty miles north of Manhattan in Cold Springs, New York. The center is part of the New York State Parks Department and provides many educational programs for students from elementary school through college. It also occasionally serves as a young city dweller’s first introduction to the great outdoors. Many of the field guides visited the center when they were in elementary school. The guides pursued degrees in science and environmental education and then returned to the center to work. We were lucky to have them teach us.
Though the forecasters predicted rain, the weather cooperated nicely. Upon our arrival, our instructors ushered us quickly into the pavilion and broke our large class into smaller groups of nine or ten boys. After a quick orientation, we headed outdoors.
The purpose for our particular visit to the Taconic Outdoor Education Center was to learn how to work better as a team. The instructors designed the course as a series of stations in which the boys were presented with various tasks. Each station required them to work toward a common goal. For example, the boys launched themselves on a rope swing at one station and landed on a small platform. They were required to plan ahead, make room for each other, and catch each other as they came across. Another activity involved figuring out how to climb through a tire that was positioned four feet above the ground. On “The Whale Watcher” they were required to stand on a plank and balance it without letting the plank touch the ground. Each station had a purpose and the boys became better at accomplishing the goals as the day continued. Each task required the boys to communicate in different ways and to think strategically about accomplishing a goal.
The boys all said they had a great time. Our hope is that they can now apply some of the lessons learned back in the classroom and at home.
