Jason Jansen, July 31, 2002

Summer Time Fun

Five fabulous and fantastic days of sun, fun, and . . . yes, learning!!  Sound too good to be true?  Well, not if you’re a middle school student at JRG Middle School in Kimberly, Wisconsin.  Students in grades 5-8 had the opportunity to attend “Eco-Camp.”  Eco-camp is a week-long summer camp developed and run by Jason Jansen, a 6^th grade teacher at JRG.

“It’s summer, kids need to be outdoors having fun and if they can learn about our environment while doing that—even better!” says Jansen.  He developed the camp as part of the requirements for the Master of Science in Natural Resources Program for Teachers at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point (Jason graduated in 2002) and because he has a life-long love of the out of doors.  One  particular moment has had the most impact on Jason.  On an overnight camping trip to Rock Island (north of Door County) his high school environmental studies teacher, Mr. Ron VanderVelden, really impressed the beauty, importance, and appreciation of our environment.   Jason hopes he can instill that type of feeling through his camp.

In the five days and one overnight session, the 25 students learned about some of the different ecosystems such as forests, wetlands, and prairie.  They got to experience nature first hand by looking at and learning about different plant and animal adaptations of each ecosystem.  They studied each of the different soil structures and tested soils for nutrients.  They played learning games such as “Counting Creepy Crawlies” and “Blindfolded Forest Walk.”

The culminating event was an overnight stay at Hartmann Creek State Park in Waupaca.  Jansen chose this location for a number of reasons.  “Hartmann Creek is not only a beautiful park where students can run, play, and camp, but it also has all three of the ecosystems we studied the previous  week.”  Here, students studied the surrounding ecosystems first hand. They could easily compare and contrast the physical characteristics of each, and the feelings associated with each.  “A forest is going to have a lot different noises and shadows than the prairie or the wetland.  It’s the combination of the tangible and intangible aspects that really provide that connection to nature. . . . That connection leads to respect for the out of doors.  If students have such a connection, they’re going to feel that they have a responsibility for taking care of nature.  Plus, their own self-worth is going to increase”  stated Jansen. That connection to nature is what Jansen is hoping the students get from their experience at eco-camp.  Eco-camp runs every summer pending funding.

For more information on UW Stevens Point’s Master’s degree program in environmental education for teachers contact Tim Byers, Program Coordinator at (715) 346-4176.

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