2 Weeks of Outdoor School

Jackson and his fellow St. Francis Academy classmates spent 2 weeks in the hills of Estacada at Eagle Fern Camp. He was pleased with himself for lasting the entire 2 weeks without being kicked out. Why a child who LOVES being outside in the woods would even jeopardize this opportunity really makes no sense to me. If he were to be kicked out, his punishment would to be housebound for those two weeks. What a silly boy.


Here is a picture of a typical tree near the camp. Beautiful in its own right, but I know what kind of weather conditions breeds this kind of moss, wet!


We all paid Jackson a visit Sunday night, halfway through his stay and spent an hour with him showing us his cabin and his awesome mopping skills. He was head mopper of the kitchen and dining hall. You might say, "What a helpful young lad!" Actually, he came up with this as a way out of "Evening Circle" Now you can say, "What a clever, industrious young lad!"

Some of the stories that Jackson has chosen to share with us include; finding a deer bone and throwing it under his bunk so the teachers wouldn't confiscate it. And, oops, I forgot it under there. It was still a little gooey and stinky...( I hope someone finds the source of the stink in that cabin)

Jackson: "I swam across the river trying to measure the amount of water that runs through it, you know, discharge volume. That water was SOOO cold!"

Mom: " Oh, the teachers thought this was a safe way to find this measurement?"

Jackson: "Yes, but they weren't there."

Mom; "What safety precautions did you take?"

Jackson: "I tied a rope to myself."

Mom: "Where was the rope tied? Around your neck?"

Jackson: "No, around my toe, but it came undone."

Mom: "............."

HAHAHAHAHA I switched the salt and sugar up so that when people made their tea they added salt instead of sugar. That was so funny. HAHAHAHAHA

I only had breakfast 5 times during my two weeks. (This is due to sleep in the morning, having a greater pull on him than food.) This is a great example of why I LOVE this school for Jackson. They practice natural consequences and let these young adults make their own decisions. Thankfully, this one did not involve the river!

My zipline failed. And yes, I was expressly told, not to build a zipline.

As a community we helped build a retaining wall and a shelter for the camp.

WELCOME HOME JACKSON

As a side note; 1 hour after arriving home, a helicopter hovered over our home for 20 minutes and the fire department showed up.

WELCOME HOME JACKSON

Actually, they were doing a water rescue and it had nothing to do with any member of our family.  Our home teacher did call worried because he knew that Jackson was back home.  He really does know this family!