Outdoors school a high-class act

By Janet Reese, Special to the Rocky

Monday, April 21, 2008

Doug Reese, Special to the Rocky

The end's in sight for Linda Schiller on the high-ropes challenge course at the Balarat Outdoor Education Center.

Doug Reese, Special to the Rocky

Anne Clinton

Doug Reese, Special to the Rocky

Brooke Engel

Doug Reese, Special to the Rocky

Sam Kumagai

Doug Reese, Special to the Rocky

Southmoor Elementary students, from left, Megan Sochinski, Anne Clinton and Josh Schaffer write their goals in their workbooks.

Jessica Hartig is the first to attempt climbing the 40-foot wall. Hooked into the belay rope, the 11-year-old climbs a short way, gets stuck and comes down. She tries again and approaches the top.

"I've never gotten that high before," she says with a proud grin. "I felt airborne, and the view was amazing. Climbing down was fun."

It's not a typical school day for Hartig, a student from Southmoor Elementary School, in Denver. She's at the Balarat Outdoor Education Center, located near Jamestown, about 18 miles northwest of Boulder.

Throughout the school year, fifth- grade students from Denver Public Schools visit Balarat to learn about nature, ecology, history, team-building, goal-setting, and climbing and orienteering.

For some students, the trip is their first time away from home by themselves. For others, it's their first time at an outdoor camp in the mountains. For everyone, it's an exciting overnight adventure filled with fun and engaging outdoor learning activities.

The adventure starts on the bus, where students from Kaiser Elementary School and Farrell B. Howell K-8 School begin to shift their thoughts from the classroom to the mountains. Along the way, they talk about changes they see from city to country to mountains.

While the group is en route, two classes from Southmoor Elementary start their second day at Balarat. They came the day before and will return to Denver midafternoon.

After breakfast, the Southmoor students pack their gear in the bunk-style dorms. Their teacher, Zack Bastoky, asks the boys, "Who's missing this pair of boots?" With no takers, he quips, "If no one claims them, I'll sell them on eBay."

Bastoky advises the boys to use the bathroom before hitting the hiking trail. "There's no flushing toilet for the next four hours," he says.

They let loose a loud shriek, preferring the comfort of the indoor bathrooms to the rustic outhouses on the trail.

Challenges by choice

The girls and boys hike in single file on a trail through patches of melting snow. They're headed toward one of the most popular activities at Balarat: the high-ropes challenge course, which features a high-ropes gorilla grab, a pirates crossing, a 40-foot climbing wall and a beam walk. Kids are roped in and on belay at all times while climbing.

Taking seats on logs, with workbooks on their laps, the students listen intently to Bastoky.

"Take some time to decide on your goals for the course," he says. "A small goal is to put on the harness. A middle goal: Touch the wall. And a big goal: Climb the wall. When your goals are written in your workbook, reflect on them awhile."

Students choose which challenges to try. "Your challenge today is to set your goals and reach them," says Paul Cox, a Balarat outdoor education teacher. "We want to get out of our comfort zones. Encourage your teammates, but don't push them to where they don't want to be."

At the climbing wall, Cox talks about safety and explains how to belay. In groups of four or five students, each team takes a turn climbing and belaying.

Eco-hike bingo

At 10:30 a.m., the buses from Denver arrive at Balarat and the Kaiser and Howell students unload at the trail head. The fun begins with an hour-and-a-half-long ecology hike at 8,000 feet during which the kids learn about nature in the area.

Balarat counselor Jay Pearson, 17, a junior at Thomas Jefferson High School, leads the hike. "Keep your cameras, water bottles and workbooks in easy reach," he says. "Stay on the trail and don't leave anything behind."

Walking along the trail, they play "nature bingo," crossing off blocks in their workbooks when finding things like ponderosa pine, coyote scat and pine cones.

Guadalupe Toque, 10, likes the experience. "This is better than I imagined," she says. "It's fun and messy. I'm looking forward to seeing the animals, birds and rabbits."

They end up at the Duval Mine, a historic restored gold mine. They eat lunch in a nearby cabin, tour the mine, assay gold and learn about Colorado's mining history.

Teacher keen on Balarat

"I love Balarat," says Carol Austin, a Kaiser teacher who's taken her students there for the past nine years. "It's a time for students to bond with friends and become independent."

The experience affects kids in various ways, says Austin. "Some learn a lot about the environment. Some are engrossed with nature, constantly taking in the sights, sounds and smells."

After the night hike, Austin leads her class in an activity at the lodge. Kids write notes about Balarat on cards and draw nature pictures on cut-out paper hands. Back in their classroom, they'll make a paper quilt with the cards and cutouts. "We'll call it our 'Balarat memory quilt,' " she says.

"At Balarat, you can find curriculum and education, solitude, friendship, inner peace and inner strength," says Austin. "Sometimes the most challenging kids find the most benefit. Wide-eyed and observant, they're into the whole experience. Looking back, many students say, 'We had such a good time.' "

About Balarat Outdoor Education Center

Balarat is derived from the Aboriginal word balaarat, meaning "a resting or camping place." In the late 1800s, miners from Australia founded the town of Balarat, which is now a ghost town near the outdoor center.

Balarat Outdoor Education Center was founded in 1968 when Roger Calvert donated his 700-acre property to Denver Public Schools with the stipulation that inner-city kids would have the opportunity to learn in an outdoor setting. The outdoor center evolved into a "school in the mountains where learning comes naturally" - its tagline. Five thousand DPS students visit Balarat annually for the overnight program.

The camp has two comfortable dorms with bunk beds, a lodge with a dining room and classroom, and field cabins and shelters for educational programs. Fifteen full-time instructors and support-staff members are on-site.

DPS high school students may elect to become Balarat counselors and eco-interns and earn community service and academic course credits.

Programs

* Gold mining at the Duval Mine: mining history, safety and assaying gold

* CSI (crime-scene investigation): Solve an animal-poaching crime using natural clues.

* High-ropes challenge course

* Low-ropes playground

* Western history: pioneers, trappers, traders, Indians

* Compass and orienteering course

They said it

* Anne Clinton

What is your favorite Balarat activity? "The morning hike. Starting at 6:30 a.m, we hiked a half-mile to an overlook where I could see everything in silence - the sky and nature."

* Brooke Engel

What do you like about Balarat? "How it's so peaceful and calm. You don't have to worry about anything going wrong."

* Sam Kumagai

What do you think of Balarat? "I wish I could come here every year, because it's really fun and we learn some stuff, too."

Hit the trail

* What: Third annual Balarat Trail Run/Walk, a fundraiser to benefit Balarat educational programs. Music and food will be provided.

* When: 10 a.m. May 10

* Where: Balarat Outdoor Education Center

* Fee: Six-mile trail run: $30, $35 after May 1. Two-mile trail walk: $20, $25 after May 1

* Register: balarat.dpsk12.org