Greetings from Principal Greg Schuett:

We are just past the half-way mark of our school year. As I write this note, with my window open on a beautiful, sun-drenched, brisk February day, I am listening to the happy chatter of the 6th-grade students working on their rock crafts over in Oak Village. I’ve been reflecting on my travels within San Diego County, and the people I meet who attended Cuyamaca Outdoor School when they were children. When they hear that I am principal here, they excitedly tell me something about their experience: Which cabin they stayed in; that they still have their rock or wood craft; that they made a friend at camp that they are still in touch with; that they saw a wild animal, felt a new connection to nature, or had a peak moment that has stayed with them through the years. It is so gratifying to know that we have touched the lives of more than one million San Diegans through the years in so many different ways.

As we welcome new students year-after-year, it’s only natural to update our facilities and keep our staffing strong. We just completed our construction project on the Northwind and Eastwind cabins. They both have beautiful new floors, tempered double-pane windows, totally refurbished exteriors, and bright, energy efficient LED interior lighting. Our goal is to complete similar upgrades to the Southwind and Westwind cabins before the start of the next school year. 

Since school started, we have hired or promoted 20 new staff members. Some have come to us from other outdoor schools in California, many have environmental science degrees from various universities. They’ve come from as far away as New York and Ohio. Some are bilingual, play the guitar, are experienced song leaders, or captivating story tellers. The common thread among them all is they are brimming with enthusiasm and are eager to share their love of science and nature with children day-after-day and week-after-week. Their mantra is “This may be our 20th week, but it is our students' only week. Let’s make it special!”

For several years now, our staff has received training on Restorative Practices. It is a new approach to a time-honored way of working with children in a kind, thoughtful, respectful, helpful manner as opposed to quickly resorting to punishment for breaking the rules. One of the restorative practices that we use is the Peace Wheel. When two or more students are in conflict with each other, we find a quiet spot to meet and facilitate a discussion between them where they can safely express what happened, how it made them feel, and how they think they can create a win-win situation moving forward with their fellow camper(s) with whom they are in conflict. It has been amazingly effective and has resulted in almost all students who have a conflict with another student in remaining at camp for the duration of the week.

Thank you for being interested in our outdoor education program. I encourage you to reach out to us if you’d like to visit, know of a person who would be an excellent employee, want to get a new school involved, or you have an idea that might benefit our program.

Happy Trails!

Sincerely,

Greg Schuett

Cuyamaca Outdoor School welcomed a whole new village of full-time and limited-time employees after returning in January from the winter break. New staff includes:

Cabin Leaders: Brenda Carmona, Eric Jones, and Carolyn Withers-Miller 

Outdoor Education Specialists: Lucas Bennett, Tana DeSandres, Jenna Seabury, and Hannah Floren

Food Service Workers: Ryan Werdeman, Chelsea Celebi, Maria Gonzalez, and Adrian Valenzuela 

Custodial: Megan Peralta 

Outdoor Education Specialist Interns: Rachel Fulton, Karly Kastner, and Gabriella Contreras

Camp Counselor Interns: Sierra McIntosh, Kathleen Paris, Audrey Ayala, Tim Palla, Everett Schuett, Armando Polizzi

Pictured: Back Row (left to right): Armando, Tana, Karly, Hannah, Gabriella, Audrey; Middle Row: Tim, Rachel, Bottom: Jenna

Katie Andersen, outdoor education specialist at Cuyamaca Outdoor School (COS), was recently recognized for her “tremendous contributions to the lives of young people” during her long career in outdoor education.  

Andersen was awarded the 2019 Environmental Educator of the Year – southern region by the California Association of Environmental & Outdoor Education.

Katie was nominated multiple times by coworkers at COS, where she has worked for 16 years. Principal Greg Schuett was one of the individuals who nominated Andersen.

“During her time at COS, Katie has made many valuable contributions toward improving the program,” said Schuett. “She has volunteered for countless projects and committees, applying her skills in lesson planning, curriculum development, writing complex schedules, and more.”

In the nomination submittals, her colleagues said that Andersen’s number one goal as a professional is to protect the environment by educating young people about their role in the environment and also providing them tremendous agency as changemakers and citizen scientists. In addition, they said she brings a love and respect for science and nature to every student she teaches and her enthusiasm for citizen science and its promise to save the environment is both admirable and contagious.

Read more.

“I enjoy the quietness of nature and how calming it is, whether it be the chirp of a bird or the flow of the river.” 

Monika, a Cuyamaca Outdoor School attendee, recently wrote these compelling words in her journal while participating in a quiet reflection activity known as My Place in Nature. Sitting outside surrounded by trees, birds, and a beautiful view, it’s easy to feel the nurturing influence of nature.

The educational goals at Cuyamaca Outdoor School are simple but profound: to help students develop an appreciation of nature, understand how life functions on Earth, learn to think like a scientist, and discover how to have a positive impact on the environment. The personal reflection of nature journaling is one technique used to accomplish these goals.

The school’s existing journal offers rich content, including field notes and questions to guide students to a deeper understanding of nature and science. However, staff wanted the journal to have a more traditional look and feel, as well as new content, so they embarked on a journey to revamp it. 

The new journal has space for animal and plant field sketching, community building reflections, nature poetry, detailed animal evidence diagrams, and even “choose your own adventure” activities. Scattered throughout the journal are beautiful hand-drawn sketches – produced by Outdoor Education Specialist Aaron Melzow – to remind students about their time at Cuyamaca. Melzow and his colleague Hannah Campbell spent hours collaborating; gathering input from peers; studying the nature journaling teachings of John Muir Laws; and drawing, wordsmithing, and formatting to create an eye-catching and engaging journal. The project was finalized with input from SDCOE's Creative Services team.

“Our hope is that this new iteration of the journal will serve as a poignant keepsake for our students to help remind them of the entertaining, engaging, and educational endeavors they experienced during their week at Cuyamaca Outdoor School,” said Site Administrator Kris Pamintuan.

The new journal was introduced to students this month. 

The SDCOE Outdoor Education team has relocated its offices and staff members to the East County Regional Education Center, located at 924 E Main Street in El Cajon. If you need to reach them, please call 619-590-3910.

This quarterly newsletter will keep you up-to-date on Cuyamaca Outdoor School:

The Original 6th Grade Camp.