Middle-schoolers attending the Montessori School of Flagstaff’s Cedar Campus spent a few days in nature this week as part of one of the school’s annual camping trips.
All 22 students at the school spent a day and two nights at a campsite in the Coconino National Forest south of Flagstaff learning about the local environment and ways to work together in nature.
“[It’s an] opportunity that wouldn’t necessarily be happening elsewhere,” said Mark Gallo, director of the Cedar Campus. “Once you have that connection to nature and your peers, the learning environment is healthier. … Understanding where things come from and why things happen helps with a sense of connection and a sense of importance for kids this age.”
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The Great Outdoors
Luc deWees rests in his hammock Wednesday morning before going for a hike with his fellow middle-schoolers from the Montessori School of Flagstaff’s Cedar Campus during a class camping trip to the Lakeview Campground above Lake Mary.
Camping Adventures
Demi Archuleta-Willis of the Montessori School of Flagstaff Cedar Campus takes a photo of his middle-school classmates during a class camping trip to Lake View Campground above Lake Mary.
outdoor education
Mark Gallo, director of the Montessori School of Flagstaff Cedar Campus, talks to his students while on a hike with a class of middle-schoolers during a camping trip to Lake View Campground above Lake Mary.
The Great Outdoors
Ariana Torres checks out the view while on a hike with her fellow Montessori middle-schoolers during a class camping trip to Lake View Campground above Lake Mary.
The Great Outdoors
Ransom Vaughan takes a moment to read during a hike Wednesday morning with his class fellow Montessori middle-schoolers during a camping trip to the Lakeview Campground above Lake Mary.
The Great Outdoors
Luc deWees rests in his hammock Wednesday morning before going for a hike with his fellow middle-schoolers from the Montessori School of Flagstaff’s Cedar Campus during a class camping trip to the Lakeview Campground above Lake Mary.
Camping Adventures
Demi Archuleta-Willis of the Montessori School of Flagstaff Cedar Campus takes a photo of his middle-school classmates during a class camping trip to Lake View Campground above Lake Mary.
outdoor education
Mark Gallo, director of the Montessori School of Flagstaff Cedar Campus, talks to his students while on a hike with a class of middle-schoolers during a camping trip to Lake View Campground above Lake Mary.
The Great Outdoors
Ariana Torres checks out the view while on a hike with her fellow Montessori middle-schoolers during a class camping trip to Lake View Campground above Lake Mary.
The Great Outdoors
Ransom Vaughan takes a moment to read during a hike Wednesday morning with his class fellow Montessori middle-schoolers during a camping trip to the Lakeview Campground above Lake Mary.
The school’s curriculum is divided into five cycles that each last six weeks, with a seventh set aside each cycle as an “immersion week.” The cycles include student-planned activities and volunteer work in the community — which could mean helping at the food pantry or picking up trash on a nearby urban trail.
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Each cycle has a theme that alternates years.
This week’s trip comes as part of the immersion week at the end of the 2022-2023 school year’s first cycle, with a theme of “connections.” Two more camping trips will take place later this year, taking students to the Grand Canyon and the San Juan River with Grand Canyon Youth.
Demi Archuleta-Willis of the Montessori School of Flagstaff Cedar Campus takes a photo of his middle-school classmates during a class camping trip to Lake View Campground above Lake Mary.
Jake Bacon, Arizona Daily Sun
Gallo has worked at the school for eight years, and he said these trips have been taking place since before he started.
The idea with the first trip is to start small and help students gain familiarity with being in nature.
“A lot of them, it’s their first time camping, so we get outside and introduce principles and just being more comfortable in nature,” Gallo said.
He hoped the trip would encourage the students to develop their interpersonal skills and become a “better learning community.”
“It’s an opportunity for the kids to be out in nature without that external stimuli of cellphones or even an opportunity for them to express themselves away from their families,” he said. “After being cooped up for so long with COVID, it’s really important for this age group to be able to express themselves and act how they want to act without the influence of siblings or parents.
He added: “It really brings everyone together closer. We become a tighter-knit community — which ultimately affects all of our ability to learn and willingness to learn.”
The trip also has an education component, including a hike on the nearby Arizona Trail, water studies and an introduction to leave-no-trace principles, and the abiotic and biotic factors in the local environment.
Beyond the camping experience, environmental education is part of the curriculum at Cedar Campus, with students learning about the Colorado Plateau and local watersheds, and spending lots of time outside — more than an hour most days, according to Gallo.
Using the outdoors as an extension of the classroom was a key belief for Maria Montessori, the founder of Montessori education, Gallo said, so the school tries to incorporate outdoor learning as much as possible.
Mark Gallo, director of the Montessori School of Flagstaff Cedar Campus, talks to his students while on a hike with a class of middle-schoolers during a camping trip to Lake View Campground above Lake Mary.
Jake Bacon Arizona Daily Sun
“[We’re] trying to create a positive connection with nature,” he said. “Not have it be something that seems scary and unknown, but something that they can always have and come to. Something that will always be there, especially if we’re going to fight for the things we want to see persist, some of those natural places. They see them and they want to save them and then they fight for that.”
Lessons and ideas from the trip and the year’s first cycle will be brought into the next cycle, which focuses on explorations.
Gallo said he hoped the students would feel “empowerment” from this trip.
“[I’d like] for them to understand that they’re a part of something and there’s always a place come to be themselves,” he said. “…Those things [middle-schoolers] do will stick with them, and those neural pathways are going to be hardened and last for their entire life. It’s really important at this age to make it not just about academics, but make it about the whole child, make it so they are using their brains in ways that will benefit them, no matter what they decide to do in the future.”
He also hoped students would return to class with “more willingness and more understanding of why they are learning these things and being able to answer those questions for themselves.”
More about Montessori School of Flagstaff can be found at flagmontessori.com.
Ransom Vaughan takes a moment to read during a hike Wednesday morning with his class fellow Montessori middle-schoolers during a camping trip to the Lakeview Campground above Lake Mary.
Jake Bacon, Arizona Daily Sun
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