50 Years of Outdoor Education
This year is the 50th anniversary of our Outdoor Education program. Last year, as part of our 100th anniversary celebration, we updated our history book. The following is an excerpt:
A second important program development was the start of the Outdoor Education program in 1975. Tom (Chandler) wanted to hire Dave Wright on a year-round basis to develop this program, but there was no money. When Dave was brought on full-time it was actually under the auspices of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, a federal program which provided funds for job training. The hire was made at the CETA office in White Country, where the man in charge had previously worked at Sears; as a result, Chandler recalled: “We wrote Dave’s first contract on a Sears Roebuck notepad.”
Tom was pretty sharp in doing this arrangement because in hiring Dave, camp also “got” his new bride Beth Keeley Wright, who like her husband had a Master’s Degree in Recreation! Beth had served on the summer staff the year before, leading the bicycle trips and directing the pool. Though she wasn’t on the payroll, she worked hand in hand with Dave in developing the Outdoor Education curriculum for schools.
Previously only one school had come to camp for outdoor education and that school devised their own program. They were allowed to use camp, including the kitchen, for $1 per person per day. Tom knew you could not even pay the day-to-day expenses at those fees.
When the new curriculum was written and the school was invited to take part using the Tecumseh program, trail leaders, and food service for the summer of $4 per person per day they politely declined. No one was surprised.
