By the time you read this, I will be at a summer camp with 130 children.
"Say WHAT? KELLYq, it's not summer."
True, but all 6th graders in my county have to go to camp with their teachers for
about three days. We call it Outdoor Education. While there, they learn
a variety of incredibly useful things through valuable, life changing
experiences like: getting lost in the woods, finding trash in a stream,
and visiting an old graveyard (we call that the "history hike!").
I really enjoyed Outdoor Ed when I went as a kid, and I enjoyed it much
more last year as a teacher chaperone. All schools rotate what time of
year they go to Outdoor Ed, and last year we had the good fortune to go
in the middle of February.
"Say WHAT? KELLYq, you hate cold weather."
True, it was ball-ass cold when we went last year, but when it comes to
Outdoor Education, Spring sucks compared to glorious, frigid Winter.
After the jump, I'll detail three problems regarding springtime.
Problem One: Bugs
Bugs are gross, yes. I was once afraid of them myself, and still am
when a wasp flies in my apartment or there's a spider in my car or
something. But children are irrationally afraid of bugs, and being
around them instantly makes you tougher and annoyed whenever they freak
out over ANOTHER daddy long legs. In the winter, all bugs burrow deep,
deep under the ground where they cannot bite, sting, or terrify you.
Problem Two: Sweat
I will take a group of whining, shivering children over smelly ones ANY
DAY. 6th grade is that lovely time when many kids have caught the
puberty train to stank town but no one has told them to wear deodorant.
That's part of the Health curriculum in 7th grade, I think. Remember
when they give you little deodorant and tampon samples? Hilarious. I
know a kid who shoved his up his nose (the tampon, not the deodorant).
Point is, no one smells in Winter.
Problem Three: Spring Fever
In winter, it's too cold for any of my little hormone-filled darlings to think about touching each other. In spring, it's not. The point is, while you boners are out enjoying the bright spring
sunshine and pretty spring flowers, I'll be lecturing a pair of sweaty,
stinky children for trying to make out while under a hornets' nest. I
hope there's a blizzard when we go next year.
"KELLYq & a" runs on Wednesday mornings. For more information, click here.

Hooray for Outdoor Ed!
(I seem to recall falling in a creek when I went . . .)
Posted by: Tori | April 25, 2007 at 09:57 AM
Say WHAT?!?!
Posted by: Jerome | April 25, 2007 at 10:51 AM
I didn't get to go to Outdoor Education. My school was so poor we barely got an Indoor Education.
Zing!
True, though. Catholic schools are extremely underfunded.
Posted by: Lauren | April 25, 2007 at 11:38 AM
I loved Outdoor Ed, even though I got food poisoning because the chaperone didn't let me keep my stew on the fire for long enough and I ate raw meat. that's Bethesda for you though, I learned the joys of steak tartar at Outdoor Ed.
Posted by: EmGusk | April 26, 2007 at 08:03 AM