Introduction

Introduction

El: Tigré

Experiential Learning: Team-Integrated Global Recreation Education

"What I hear, I forget; what I see, I remember; what I do, I know." -Chinese Proverb

Welcome to All "Who Wander Are Not Lost:"

The What:

If you've read above what El Tigré stands for, you're probably thinking that it's more than a mouthful, even for a tiger. We happen to think that we're pretty creative, coming up with our big, clumsy title. But let's not let laborious labels get in our way of what this course is really about. El Tigré is about getting your hands and feet dirty and wet outside; it's about getting real outside; it's about creating an adventure out of learning and life.

This course combines the social studies and sciences in an outdoor-based, experiential, alternative education approach and is team-taught by Mr. Carter, Mr. VanIwarden, and Mr. Walters. Mr. Walters serves as our Experiential Education Coordinator. Despite his fancy title of EEC, we prefer to call him "Canyon Dwayne," and we bring him along so as not to get lost as we wander. Mr. Carter, who insists that he's part of the radical right (but in all honesty can't tell his left from his right), and who holds a bachelor’s degree in history and a Master’s of Arts in teaching, will focus on the social studies and language arts portions of the class. The guy who believes people are paying him a compliment when they tell him that "he has rocks for brains," is Mr. VanIwarden. He holds a bachelor's degree in science education and will focus on the geology, science and math skills portions of the course. Our class will meet during both third and fourth blocks for an entire semester. Students who complete our requirements with proficiency will earn a social studies and science credit to be applied toward total graduation requirements. Besides meeting in the occasional classroom setting, we'll be spending the majority of our time off-site, visiting real-life historical locations, floating down pristine rivers, and exploring what lies beyond the next chapter in a page-turner of some naturalist fiction, or what lies around the next corner in the deepest of canyons.

The Why:

The goal of this course is to address the needs for alternative students identified as at-risk. "At-risk" doesn't mean "dummy." At-risk means at-risk of dropping out of high school because the traditional methods of "sit-and-get" teaching just aren't appealing to the diverse needs of the individual learner. We hope to provide students with the opportunity to apply real-world applications to the meaning, understanding, and pursuit of knowledge. Our goal is to bring relevancy in learning that transcends the traditional classroom setting to an off-site/outdoor laboratory. We hope to help students intrinsically develop a culture of respect and appreciation for understanding and skills that they will value and personally apply to their lives, outside of the traditional school building. We hope to challenge students to work together and learn the importance of communication, understanding, respect, skills, and community. Our main goal is to provide at-risk students the opportunity to undergo a process through which the learner constructs knowledge, skill, and value from direct experiences. We trust that this process will help ensure successes in the lives of kids, in spite of existing at-risk factors.

The How:

Students will engage in a variety of activities that will challenge them both physically and mentally. In hopes of providing as many avenues of success as possible, we're excited to have a volunteer group of Tiger Trainers who will serve as peer-mentors in our class. While we're going to ask a lot of our students we're pledging to have fun doing it. We all know that some of today's teenagers don't exhibit the best physical condition but that shouldn't scare anyone off. We'll go a little slower for some, and speed up for others, but at all times we ask for as much support that parents can lend their learner. Clearly, parent communication and engagement are key to the success of your student in this program. We encourage parents to maintain a direct line of open communication with us. Please feel free to call Mr. Carter at school at 276-5923, or Mr. VanIwarden at 276-5916. At any time that you can't contact us by phone, you should also feel free to communicate with us via the convenience of 719-276-5870.

Our appreciation goes out to the Canon City Board of Education, central administration, and community members as well as the CCHS faculty, staff, students, counselors, parents and administrators for all of your support as we begin the exploration down this exciting path of experiential education.

Sincerely,

Mr. Carter, Mr. VanIwarden, Mr. Walters, Stella Blue, and Pete-Boy (our mascots)