Why STEAM in the PARK?

Why spend part of your summer and some of your money on teacher PD with Expeditions in Education’s STEAM in the Park? Because adult camp is just about the funnest thing around! Imagine outdoor ed camp and all the wonderful things about it…

• Time with friends (don’t worry, you WILL make new friends, some that will become forever friends)
• Arts and crafts
  
• Mealtime - No thinking, prep, clean-up – they schedule our meals for us, you just decide what to eat
  
• Hiking and outdoor time
  
• Sing a-longs…this may sound silly but this was one of my favorite moments
  
• Games – we play lots of them, all ones you can bring back to your classroom
  
• A scheduled day – they have it all planned out

All this, plus you gain wonderful ideas for your classroom, PD hours and you get to see one of our nation’s national parks up close and personal. It really is a vacation from life. No kids or students. No housework. The wonderful crew from Expeditions in Education thought of everything from the packing list to ideas for your travel plans.

I traveled to Crater Lake this summer. My favorite part was seeing the park and lake in so many different lights. Most visitors to this park spend a day driving the rim, they might hike down to the beautiful blue water for a swim, but then they are on their way. It is a very remote park, with limited accommodations onsite. So seeing that blue for four days in a row was truly something special.

The second best part was the people. Expeditions in Education gives you many ways to connect with your fellow campers before camp, which is especially helpful in coordinating travel plans. I ended up picking up Arielle and Lauri from a Best Western at the base of Mt. Hood never having seen them and only minimally texted one and traveled with them to and from Crater Lake. They are now two of my favorite humans. We laughed, told our life stories and learned together.

Lastly, I came back to my classroom with a heart full of joy and excitement, some wonderful lesson ideas and a renewed love of this career. What Expeditions in Education was able to achieve, with a small staff and budget was nothing short of extraordinary!

Erin Cosky, STEAM in the PARK Camper 2022