Manitou Park Fourth Graders have fun without TV or Video games during Outdoor Environmental Education at Camp Seymour

"Campfire, reptiles, and boating!This is the best camping out there. You get to do so much fun stuff. I wish we could come back!"say Jaedyn Ross, Pamela Nguyen, and Akemi Roberts.

Manitou Park Elementary brings their fourth grade students to YMCA Camp Seymour's Outdoor and Environmental Education program each year. Accompanied by teachers Earla Redd, Michelle Canion, Jessica Gillette, and Alex Kinney, the ninety students participate in classes about their impact on the environment, marine science, reptiles, boating, and orienteering.

"We come to camp because we are able to connect our district curriculum to camp," says Reed, who has attended camp for three years. "Students make connections between information they have learned in the classroom and the real world, something that may never happen if we stayed in Tacoma."

"Our students are experiencing the natural world while doing activities that they have never done before," add Kinney and Gillette. "They are having fun without TV or video games."

"By the second night, you see the students coming out of their shells," pipes in Canion. "Students that may struggle with behavior problems at school turn it around at camp. They really learn to work as a community here."

Manitou Park Elementary struggles each year to find the funding to bring students to camp. Over 60% of the students who attended this year are currently benefiting from the free and reduced lunch program through school. A grant from the Washington Department of Ecology helped many students afford an unforgettable experience this year.