The Camp Cilca Classroom
By: Julie Griminger
The “Camp Cilca Classroom” is an outdoor education experience we give to sixth grade students in the spring of 4th quarter at Grant Middle School. We take 70-80 sixth grade students to Camp Cilca for three days and two nights. Camp Cilca is located in Cantrall, Illinois about twenty minutes away from Grant Middle School. The student’s cost is $75.00. Over the course of three days, this covers seven meals, snacks, activity materials, bus fee, and lodging fee. The students spend the night in cabins and eat in a dining hall located on the grounds of the camp. All three days at camp are filled with variousactivities that allow them to see and do things not possible in the classroom. After receiving instruction from a presenter from the Department of Natural Resources, students fish and canoe in Cilca Lake. There is an orienteering course set up to allow students a hands-on opportunity to use a topographic map and compass. Presenters from the IEPA help us learn more about macro invertebrates in a potomolgy activitiy. We discover more about our watershed, erosion, water quality, and its effect on water organisms. We also conduct a simulated activity, called “Lost Colony”, where students work in teams/families to build/make a shelter using all natural materials. Students participate in a “no-flashlight” night hike find themselves surrounded by nature, using their senses, and make observations about the night sky and sounds they hear by candlelight in “Operation Night Watch”. The students also participate in a “Sensory Walk” using a trail set up at the camp for the visually impaired. In our “Meandering Stream” activity, students follow the stream originating in Lake Cilca and witness first hand the effect of erosion and deposition on the landforms in the area. We even find the 2nd oldest Sycamore tree known to Illinois during this activity. During our study hall, students dissect owl pellets and discuss the food chain. There are also team building activities and activities that involve physical exertion, problem solving, and the fine arts. Students continuously reflect on their experience from each activity in a “Camp Writing Journal”. Before going on to high school, Grant students say, “ Cilca is their #1 “Most Memorable” experience of middle school!” That statement alone keeps us going back for more!