Photo courtesy of Ventura Charter School.
VENTURA — When high temperatures made Steckel Park unsafe for this year’s campout, Ventura Charter School’s campout committee moved the 21st Annual Campout to the school’s own campus. That kept one of the school’s longest-running traditions going for students in grades K-8, their families and staff. The three- day event ran October 7 through 9 as originally planned, with outdoor programming, shared meals and student-led campfires. Campout is one of several annual traditions through which the school pursues its mission to engage every student in meaningful and supportive learning experiences.
The campout is a core part of how Ventura Charter School teaches. As an expeditionary learning school partnered with EL Education, a national model built on learning through real experiences and teamwork, the school uses the campout to help students build leadership, independence and connection with each other. As a public charter school within the Ventura County Office of Education, it offers this kind of learning to local families at no cost.
“Campout is where everything we teach comes together. Student learning happens outdoors, where they problem-solve and find out what they’re capable of outside the classroom,” said Lisa Hildebrand, Executive Director of Ventura Charter School. “When the heat put that at risk, our families and staff refused to let it go. That says everything about this community.”
Parents and teachers ran this year’s campout. Students played together in a 75-drum circle led by John Laques of Drum Time, met live animals at a presentation from Reptacular and listened to storyteller Michael Katz. They also rotated through nature and outdoor activity centers and parent-run choice centers in arts and crafts and physical education. Middle school students spent part of the campout at Steckel Park for select activities. Evenings included a taco night dinner for the full school and night games, along with campfires led by students in grades 4 through 8 that featured student performances and group singing. The campout is older than the school itself. It began at Open Classroom, the program Ventura Charter School grew out of, where it ran for more than 30 years and has roots dating to 1969. Ventura Charter School has carried it forward since opening in 2006. Because of this year’s heat, the school is looking at moving future campouts to November.
— Ventura Charter School – Starting as Open Classroom in the 1970’s, Ventura Charter School of Global Arts & Education launched in 2006 as a tuition-free public charter school within the Ventura County Office of Education. The school currently serves over 400 K- 8th grade students on its campus located within the larger DATA middle school property. Ventura Charter School is an expeditionary learning school in partnership with EL Education. It is guided by 10 founding principles and its mission to, “engage every