PORT TOWNSEND — Classroom instruction is essential, but students also benefit from “experiential” learning outside of regular coursework, said the principal of Blue Heron Middle School.
“Hands-on learning can be really valuable,” Mark Decker said Friday.
“A lot of times, I’ve seen kids come alive in these experiential learning situations.”
Something different
This week, students in the school’s upper three grades are getting a taste of something different, intended to widen their horizons and expand their skills.
“Experiential education can be an essential learning experience for kids,” Decker said.
“A lot of kids who are leaders in the classroom find it to be different in these situations which draw upon a different set of skills.”
All three grades will spend the upcoming week participating in the special programs.
The sixth grade will participate in a Centrum “Tales, Text and Theater” program where they will learn about acting and production in a professional environment.
This, according to Decker, teaches self-confidence.
“I’ve seen kids who have never been on a stage come alive after they’ve tried performing,” Decker said.
“Kids who don’t know how to write or like writing can get an idea about how words can be translated to the stage.”
Navigation and math
Seventh-graders will spend the week at the Northwest Maritime Center to get hands-on experience with boats.
“A lot of kids sit in a classroom and wonder, ‘Why do I have to learn this?’” Decker said.
“But if they are out on a boat and need to use math to navigate, it becomes clear to them.”
Eighth-graders will go on a four-day camping trip to Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.
“We asked kids who have graduated from Port Townsend School system to name their most important school experience, and a lot of them mention the eighth-grade trip,” Decker said.
“A lot of them have never gone camping before, and they learn problem-solving and self-sufficiency.”
The Centrum program is the most expensive at $12,500, while the Northwest Maritime Center excursion costs the school $9,500 and the camping trip $10,000.
Funding from grants
Much of the funding comes from grants and the school district.
The camping trip costs each student $80, though about 30 percent receive a scholarship for the outing, Decker said.
Tight school budgets have threatened many programs, but these three were budgeted early and were not cut, Decker said.
Next year’s funding is uncertain, he said, “but I think we’ll be able to make it work.”
All of the programs are important because they allow kids to take risks and test themselves in a safe environment, Decker said.
“Sometimes, you can see a kid who has never been in front of an audience stand up and perform in a professional environment,” Decker said.
“They aren’t scared to do this because they have support from the instructor.”
Decker said experiential learning has value but that most instruction should occur in a classroom.
“You need to find a balance,” he said.
“But most of what the kids will learn over the next week will be things they can apply in the classroom.”
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
