PLCS sixth-graders get hands-on science lessons in the Great Outdoors

Sixth-graders from Papillion La Vista Community Schools — more than 600 in all — have had a chance to do that this fall.

Sixth-graders from each of the district’s 16 elementary schools spent two days studying science topics outdoors at the Carol Joy Holling Camp, Conference and Retreat Center near Ashland. They’ve completed modules on grassland, forest and aquatic environments and also experienced the excitement of ziplining and tackling challenging obstacle courses.

Schools rotate participating in the Outdoor Education program. On Wednesday, Oct. 4 and Thursday, Oct. 5, it was Portal Elementary’s turn. The school’s three sections of sixth grade — a total of about 70 students — were bused out to the Holling Center for the program.

Besides getting some fresh air, students completed some hands-on activities that will give more meaning to what they learn in the classroom, according to Portal Elementary Principal Mikaela Vobejda.

“Anytime you can give them hands-on lessons, it really cements and deepens the learning that they have,” she said. “They keep it, they connect to it, and they continue coming back to it throughout the school year.”

At a pond on the Holling Center grounds, students checked the temperature with a floating thermometer they could cast into the water and checked how far down the sunlight was reaching by dropping in a black and white disk on a rope, teacher Ann Danner said. When it became difficult to see the colors, they could check marks on the rope spaced 10 centimeters apart to see how deep the disks were in. They also took water samples and checked the oxygen content and pH of the water and recorded all of their findings. During the grassland module, students checked the pH of the soil.

The forest activity started with students hiking a trail blindfolded, while holding onto a rope held by everyone in group and listening to the footsteps and other sounds around them. When they arrived at a gathering place, they removed their blindfolds and discussed how animals and humans have adapted to their environments.

Next, a teacher scattered colored toothpicks on the ground to represent food favored by different kinds of birds, then had students compete to see how many of a certain color they could gather in 30 seconds. Once again, the students recorded their data.

Before or between lessons, groups did team-building activities. On a wooden, octagonal platform about the size of a merry-go-round with a center pivot point, students fanned out to try to distribute their weight evenly. Their goal was to make it balance on the pivot point without the edges of the octagon touching the ground. After some experimenting and collaboration, they achieved that goal — and then tried to maintain it while singing “Happy Birthday” to science.

Next, the students divided into two groups, with half lining up at each side of a series of seesaws with cables under each side. Stepping from seat to seat — although they weren’t used as seats — the groups tried to keep someone on each side and hold hands to keep their balance. These and other activities helped build trust and encourage teamwork.

The school district’s Outdoor Education program was created back in the 1970s by Danner, then an elementary teacher in the district. It was initially held at a 4-H camp.

“I was teaching in the classroom, and then I had to come out at night,” she said.

Then she entered the CADRE program, an accelerated master’s degree program for teachers, and was able to participate during the day.

Danner taught in the district for 45 years, leading fourth, fifth and sixth grades during different points in her career. After she retired in 2013, the school district contracted with her to lead the Outdoor Education program — and she’s still at it.

No wonder Vobejda called her a “lifelong teacher.”

After the pandemic, a new site was needed, and the district landed on the Holling Center.

The Carol Joy Holling Camp, Conference and Retreat Center was developed after George and Irene Holling donated a half-section of land (320 acres) to the Nebraska Synod of the Lutheran Church in America in 1974 and named it in memory of their daughter, Carol Joy Holling. It became part of Nebraska Lutheran Outdoor Ministries when that was formed the following year. The first camp was held in 1979. Since then, a resource center, retreat centers and lodges have been added. The New Western Town was built in 2014 to replace the old ranch bunkhouse.