A Better Way to Learn

I recently returned from my annual excursion to cook for the North Texas Buckskin Brigade on the Stasney's Cook Ranch near Albany, Texas. On the surface, the camp seems to be a 4 1/2 day camp to learn about the whitetailed deer. However, I've learned through my involvement, that the course is really about teaching 14 to 17 year olds about leadership, teamwork, confidence, critical thinking, and respect for their peers and wildlife. I could write about the program for days, but that is not my purpose today.

My topic today is with the method used for teaching these campers. Being married to a teacher, I have a fair knowledge of how our county educates our kids in the public school system. Watching these campers learn what they learn in such a short period makes me want to compare the methods they use at the camp versus those we use in our public schools. There is no doubt in my mind that there has to be a better way to educate our children.

The first observance I have is that we have put our public school teachers in a horrible, nearly "no-win" situation. We give them marginal equipment to teach with. We give them sorry conditions to teach in. In fact, we seem to "handcuff" them at alomost every opportunity. Our public school teachers have been taught to teach in what seems to me to be a "defensive" mode. We harp on what they CAN'T do, as opposed to what they CAN do. The threats of standardized testing and "no child left behind" dominate the landscape and force our teachers, the trained professionals, to perform in a little glass box and fulfill the requirements that meets somebody elses definition of a "good education." I assure you, there is no real fun involved for the students or the teachers. I believe this method allows for many "children to be left behind." It may somewhat address the needs of the lowest achievers or a specific ethnic group, but it leaves most of the students in an area somewhere less than they could be if they were allowed to learn in a different way.

My second observation is that it is truly incredible what the campers at the Texas Brigades learn in their short time at camp. Never mind the fact that they learn more about the whitetail deer, their habitat, their anatomy and physiology, biology, wildlife conservation and management, and range science practices, then you'll ever know. They also learn a great deal about leadership, teamwork, confidence, critical thinking and respect for their peers and wildlife. The camp leaders and staff are all volunteers. They do not have to answer to a boss or school board or various interest groups who think their children are more important than your children. They employee a method of teaching which involves the camper in their study. For example, we use to get excited when we studied anatomy because our science textbook actually had colored pictures in that section. At the Buckskin Brigade, the students witness a complete necropsy of a whitetailed deer in which a biologist and a veterinarian split a deer open from the tip of its nose to it's "booty" and lay it out for the students to see. They go through the entire body of the deer and explain exactly why it works the way it does and why the deer is built the way it is. In the end, the students can name the various components of the digestive tract of a deer and appreciate just how tough wildlife have it when they are completely dependent on nature. Every step of the way during the camp is a "hands on" experience lead by a professional in that field.

Rich and honored should be the person who can figure out a way for us to change our method of education to one that involves the student to participate in learning with a professional from that discipline. I am convinced it's a better way to learn. Our teachers should not be sweating because their room is not satisfactorally air conditioned or from the pressure of achieving a certain score on the standardized test. Our teachers should be sweating because they've been participating in an outdoor activity with their students and given maximum effort because they have gone the "extra mile" because the absolutely love what they are doing.

Heck, I'm inspired to try an Accounting Camp or a Business Camp. I think, with a little adventorous thinking and no "handcuffs", you could make it interesting while instilling some very positive characteristics in the youth. The Texas Brigade way is to have very high expectations for what those campers can do, and in the end, their expectations are nearly always met.

When I become President, I will make Kent Mills my Director of Education. I will have a Board of Education made up of one man, Dr. Bill Eikenhorst, DVM. These are just two of the volunteers that have helped shape the Texas Brigades program and made me a believer that there is a better way to educate our children. They aren't interested in what the CAN'T do. The concentrate on what they CAN do. And believe me, when good people want to do something, they will amaze you with their results. Let me know if you have any thoughts or ideas.

Little Boze