LOGAN SQUARE — For middle school kids, overnight camping trips can be a formative experience.
Guided by this belief, a pair of teachers at Brentano Math and Science Academy — Emily Bartlett and Emily Thies — organized a weekend camping trip for about 80 fifth- and sixth-graders, many of whom have never gone on an overnight camping trip before.
"A lot of people think most learning takes place in the school and is content-based. A lot of the learning that happens here is life skills. Taking them to an overnight camp achieves that goal," said Bartlett, who has been teaching at the school for six years.
To make sure families can afford the excursion, the teachers are raising money through an online fundraising campaign, which will offset the cost for each family. The trip is set for April 25-26 at Camp Tecumseh YMCA in Brookston, Ind.
So far, the campaign has raised $2,251 toward its $3,000 goal. With the money already raised, the trip will cost around $34 per family, down from $100 per family without the added funds.
During the trip, the students will sit around a bonfire, make s'mores, have family-style meals and participate in a variety of team-building exercises, like survival games, where students will be stationed in the woods and figure out a way to start a fire and find fresh water.
"Having kids work together who normally wouldn't choose to work together is really, really important," Thies said. "It's a really valuable life skill that they will take with them and hopefully use in the classroom moving forward."
The trip will be a first for fifth- and sixth-graders at the school. Seventh- and eighth-graders went on an overnight trip to Wisconsin last year.
Both teachers were floored when the donations started rolling in. The campaign is nearly funded with about a week left to go.
"It's really powerful for the students to know that people in the community are supporting them and have their back," Thies said.
"I feel like theres so much negativity about CPS and our schools, and I just want people to know that there is a lot of wonderful, positive stuff going on. There are wonderful people in our community supporting us."
