My Best Learning Expereinces
Number 1: Outdoor School – Grade 6/7
What could possibly be considered one of the best learning experiences? Well for me it was a number of different experiences that I know that I love and why I enjoy learning so much.
In Grade 6 I had the opportunity to have a more hands-on learning experience. Growing up on Bowen Island gave me such a fantastic start. My teacher at the time wanted to experiment with more outdoor learning and what it meant to really learn in an outside environment. The program was called Outside45, we went through an interview process and a class size of 20 students was selected to be a part of this new program. The program was based around going on camping, hiking, sailing, and kayaking trips throughout the school year. Every month we would participate in a week-long adventure. We learned how to pack backpacks with all the food, water and other necessities. During the trips, we would be learning our curriculum at the same time. One major part was journaling, we were given prompts and then we handed in our journals at the end of the trip. For math we did things like help build our outdoor school, we also had some classroom time, but this felt very nice because were outside for most of the week.
These trips were not limited to just going on adventures but also learning about our Island. We spent every week participating in some kind of local adventure. Here are some of the trips that we did locally as an example:
- Recycling Depo
- Stream Savers
- Local dive and marine research
- environmentally friendly house builds
All of these local activities were amazing and brought the entire community together. We learned from a young age about all of the different parts of the Island. Some we did for fun but mostly we learned about the amazing island and what it meant to be a part of the community.
This type of learning program was amazing. It got shut down because we did not have a teacher to take over the program. It was really sad to see this program disappear, my hope is that I can help bring it back to life.
The reason this worked so well for me is because I was outside and it did not feel like we were learning in the typical fashion. I also got a chance to be active basically every day.
Number 2: AP Environmental Studies – Grade 12
In grade 12 I was offered a spot in a class that was for AP Environmental Science. WOW, this was amazing. We had about 4-5 people from all of the local high schools pulled together to make up one class. We were able to take the course at the DFO (Department of Fisheries). Every other day we were at the DFO participating in hands-on learning with other students who were not from our own high school. It was an amazing experience, to say the least. This experience was also cut short after no teacher wanted to take on the role and our other teacher was offered a position at a private school.
Number 3: Training Courses
Another type of learning that I really enjoy is anything that is hands-on training. I took my WSI (water safety instructor), lifeguard, PADI (diving), boating, marine radio and sailing courses. Basically, any course that I was able to take I took. This is because it was short and sweet with the option to advance to further training. I really loved the hands-on experience and the learning by watching and participating. I think I enjoyed it so much because when I reached high school it was not super hands-on at all. Compared to what I was used to in grade 6/7 it was not the most interesting for me.
These Training courses are something that I will continue to do to expand my knowledge, I have a lot of love for them and I learn so much.
Overall I think that I have had an amazing education and I am so lucky to have had amazing opportunities. I want to provide that for other children. My hope is that I can help get the outside45 program up and running again, and potentially get a teacher to take over the environmental class. There are so many people who would love a program like this and I think it is worth while advocating for more programs like the ones that I have suggested.