Special to Gulf Coast Newspapers

FAIRHOPE - Building a shelter, starting a fire and keeping safe were just some of the skills that Fairhope Environmental Excursion participants studied last spring at the McDowell Environmental Center in Jasper, Ala.

Six sixth- through ninth-grade public and home school students visited the hands-on learning center for three days in April. They thought the trip was all about fun, but they discovered it is also about education.

This annual opportunity is for coastal Alabama’s young people to experience north Alabama’s nature up close was planned by Pagan Mosher, FEE Director.

As the students canoed a canyon stream or strapped themselves up for the trust swing and the power pole climb/jump, they practiced teamwork skills. Hiking into a sandstone canyon, they explored the earth science vocabulary-weathering, sedimentary rock and erosion. With “Awesome” Big Dave they studied birds of prey and snakes and took a tour of a rock shelter, getting to see ancient petroglyphs made by Alabama’s Native Americans.

But the learning did not end with the classes. At McDowell, FEE students participated in the “Food for Thought” program. The girls learned where their food came from, what it took to get it to them and what would happen with all of their waste.

On their last day, students cheered when they got their food waste down to zero, earning a place in the Hall of Fame. Maggie Johnston, the McDowell Environmental Center director, agrees that the Food for Thought program makes the camp experience unique.

“It is a way to connect the dots, to know that you can make a difference.” The students were proud they learned how to conserve.

At night, the students listened to the hoot of an owl and learned the true meaning of trust as they hiked the woods during the night with their friends. Later, they were lulled to sleep in their comfortable cabin by the sound of a nearby waterfall.

Fairhope Environmental Excursions is now taking registration for next April’s trip to McDowell’s Environmental Camp. The dates are April 12, 13 and 14, during spring break for Baldwin County public schools. Twenty places are open to area girls in grades 6 through 9. Please contact Pagan Mosher at 928-4347 for more information and to claim your place in the best springtime field trip ever.

For more information about the environmental program at McDowell check out the camp’s Web site at www.campmcdowell.com.