Camp is Edmonds school's reward
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Michael O'Leary/The Herald
Austin White reacts as a sea urchin is placed in his hands during a sea lab at Fort Casey on Whidbey Island, where he spent a night camping with his classmates from Madrona School.
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Michael O'Leary/The Herald
Keith Ludemann, Seattle Pacific Universiy Environmental Education Specialist, let a starfish latch onto his eyebrow while students from the Madrona School watch. Students and parents attended a sea lab presentation at Ft. Casey on Whidbey Island where they spent a night.
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Michael O'Leary/The Herald
Jeremiah Kaler and others from Madrona School laugh as Keith Ludemann, Seattle Pacific University environmental education specialist, uses a crab to lift his cap. Students and parents attended a sea lab presentation at Fort Casey on Whidbey Island where they spent a night.
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Michael O'Leary/The Herald
Abby Horton and Maredeith Betts fly a kite on the grounds of Fort Casey.
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Michael O'Leary/The Herald
Annie Lyons sits outside the barracks at Fort Casey.
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Michael O'Leary/The Herald
Jeremiah Kaler enjoys the setting of Fort Casey on Whidbey Island.
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It's three years of waiting, watching older kids head off to camp with sleeping bags and flashlights, until, finally, the end of third grade arrives and it's his turn.
It's waving goodbye to Madrona School and Edmonds, and riding a ferry with his classmates to Whidbey Island, where grass and sand cover more land than pavement does.
Gone are the fractions and poems he's been studying in class.
Here he learns by holding a red sea urchin as big as his head; feeling water drip down its spiny quills and through his fingers.
By walking on the beach with his mom, looking for heart-shaped rocks. They're everywhere.
By crawling through 119-year-old forts, hiding in dark corners, pretending to be one of the soldiers who once served here.
Here he plays on a field beside Admiralty Inlet with his basketball, soccer ball and $1 tennis balls that don't really work, but that's OK because here he can also use a real baseball for once, and not worry about whacking out a window and winding up in trouble.
Camp is a rite of passage for Austin.
It's a fire warming his face after a cold breeze blows off the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It's looking up to a sky full of stars. It's staying up until exhaustion wins out, then falling asleep on a cot on creaky wooden floors in an old army barrack. It's waking up at 5 a.m. without an alarm, excited. It's orchestrating an early morning raid on the girls' barracks to steal back the boys' toilet paper.
For Austin White, it's the best two days of his life -- so far.
Kaitlin Manry: 425-339-3292, kmanry@heraldnet.com.
Story tags »
• Edmonds • Madrona K-8A night away
On most years, teachers at Madrona School in Edmonds take third-graders on an overnight trip to Camp Casey at Fort Casey on Whidbey Island. Many parents also accompany the group. Other Snohomish County schools offer similar camps to teach students about the environment and to let them experience the outdoors.
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