Arrowhead Ranch Retreats, Conferences and Outdoor Science School
Where life is an adventure not a race!
OUTDOOR EDUCATION SPECIALISTS
Arrowhead Ranch Outdoor Science School Staff Our staff is hand selected and hired based on their experience working with kids, a desire to make a difference in the lives of the students and a love for the outdoors. Each staff member undergoes a thorough background check and is fingerprinted as well as drug tested to assure our children's safety. We have cabin leaders who stay in the cabins with kids overnight. They go out on the trails with the kids and attend all meals with them. The kids are NEVER left alone. The Naturalists are our teachers. Each has a college degree in one of the sciences. They are trained as first year teachers in how to teach to groups of children in the outdoor environment. They are very interested in our youth and making a difference.
Our Directors are both very experienced camp professionals who have dedicated their lives to ensuring that our Environmental Education program meets all of the California State Science Curriculum Standards. They are always updating programs to keep them current and exciting, meeting both the educational requirements of teachers and parents while still making every day fun for the students.
As an ice breaker we have the kids do line dancing by a certified square dance caller. He gets the kids going and they have a wonderful time. After the dance the kids watch our creative team of staff get up on stage and do some funny and entertaining skits.
We also have at least one full-time medic on staff at all times. Our medic deals with all of our child related issues including homesickness, headaches and stomach aches. He assures each child will receive any prescribed medication sent to camp at the appropriate time.
Our staff is the most dedicated, energetic, outdoor loving, kid friendly group of people who work hard every day making each day a special occasion in the lives of the children who come to camp.
Naturalists are college graduates with a four year degree in one of the sciences. All of the teaching that is done comes straight from The State of California Board of Education Science Framework. Naturalists have a desire to teach kids about the environment and the way people affect our environment. We train our naturalists in an intense week of on-site training. The naturalists are introduced to the lesson material, then shown how to create an outdoor lesson plan. The staff collaborate on different styles and ways of teaching the students who come to our program. Props, games and our unique natural environment are what we use to reinforce the curriculum. Everything about our outdoor education program revolves around using the natural surroundings as our classroom. It is exciting and a bit of an adventure for the kids who come to our program. The students have science journals with specific questions as they relate to the lessons. The naturalists need to cover all the material so that when they return from a hike the students can correctly fill in the answers. These journals are sent back to school with the teachers, who use them to work with after the camp experience is over. The naturalists also help with dining room protocol. Meals are enjoyed, family style, with staff and students all sitting together in the Dining Hall. Rest assured, your student will be practicing good manners while they're enjoying their stay.
Once the naturalists have been through training, testing and lesson planning, they are ready to take a trail team on a hike. A trail team is a girls cabin group and a boys cabin group. Numbers in these groups range from 18-28. It varies from school to school. The Naturalist will meet with their trail team at a prearranged meeting area. One of the cabin leaders are also present and hiking on the trails with the kids. Teachers like to and are encouraged to come along too. The teachers observe the naturalists as they teach. The teachers also assist the students in hiking while they enjoy observing the learning going on. The cabin leader will take the rear of the trail while the naturalists will navigate the trail to the next lesson area.
Naturalists are heavily relied upon in many ways. The naturalists are responsible to ensure the safety of all students while on the trail. A count off system is used to maintain that all students are where they are supposed to be. Before leaving one lesson area to move to another the students will count off. While traveling on the trails to the next lesson spot, the naturalist will point out items of interest during the hike. The naturalist are also responsible for giving the proper information to the students.
Arrowhead Ranch Conference Center
480 Cottage Grove
PO Box 123
Lake Arrowhead, California 92352
reservations: 909-337-7265
fax line: 909-337-3634
e-mail: mzcamp@msn.com
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