Those attending Keystone Science School in Keystone CO real estate sacrifice their carefree summers for school and wouldn’t have it any other way. One camper proclaimed, “Dude, I like doing this, don’t you?â€, as he dashed across the KSS campus near Keystone homes next to the Keystone Stables. Another camper said “That was so much fun!”
The two children appeared as if they ran through a Jackson Pollock painting. It’s unique to find kids who want to use their valuable summer time in Keystone real estate on being educated about nature. They were given fluorescent paint in several colors, a present from a few of the counselors. The counselors were painted and dressed up like various weeds and mountain plants and of course Mother Nature, and they ended up having more paint on them than the children.
It’s all part of a new enterprise at KSS called “Flower Powerâ€. This is a mixture of tag and capture the flag with a little Discovery Channel tossed in for good measure. The students had to locate the “flowers,†obtain some basic facts about them and return to “Mother Nature†to get whatever the plants needed to survive, all the while taking care to avoid being attacked by the “weeds.†Joel Egbert, one of the KSS camp directors, noted that Flower Power is just a typical day at KSS and that the staff enjoy it just as much as the kids do, if not more. “Not a lot of occupations offer you the chance to produce a world,†he declared.
Three core principles
Egbert said, “Kids deserve to have magic, they really do,” explaining that what makes the camp unique and keeps the kids coming back are the camp’s three core concepts of science, fun, and adventure. In terms of science, the activities are focused on one particular theme which is then woven into the day’s lessons. “You can find other fantastic camps, but they are usually outdated,” Egbert said. “We’re very forward-thinking. We search for techniques to truly connect to science.”
The KSS staff favors an active course of schooling rather than presenting Ben Stein-type lectures. On Tuesday, the children were taken on a hike on the EarthTrack to expose them to the great outdoors. During a woodland hike, the staff gently weave lessons into games and a scavenger hunt. The culmination was when the counselors had the campers demonstrate the interdependence of the different plants and animals in the food web using an interwoven string. The whole web fell apart when a camper holding the part that represented the sun dropped his end. “You are the most important element!†one camper shouted to the sun. The offended sun replied “I know, I already said that.”
This active way to be taught must be succeeding because children keep returning to the camp. According to Jordan Egbert, Joel’s brother and a member of the KSS staff, 70% to 80% of campers have been at the camp before. A month to a month and a half is what quite a few of the kids sign up for, he added. According to Jordan Egbert, the returning kids eventually end up teaching the other kids.
The Egberts said they were interested in KSS for both “selfish and selfless reasons.†Selfishly they wanted to spend as much time as possible in the mountains taking part in any and all outdoor activities, but selflessly they really wanted to work with children. This sort of interconnectivity is what allows KSS to thrive. Jordan Egbert said, “These kids give you the same experience you give them.”
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