CB McMurdo Outdoor Education
Once a week in the fall and spring, C.B. Mc.Murdo students have the opportunity to travel to Bethany homes and ride horses, explore the forest and learn about survival skills. This is one option class students line up for!
The staff at Bethany Homes have been accommodating and extremely generous with the use their facility and grounds. They have tailored a horse program that fits each individual student who wants to learn more about horses. Students work one-on-one with a horse and experience a bond with a farm animal. They learn aspects of animal husbandry, such as, how to behave around the horses and how to take care of them. After seeing how a horse listens to their voice and follows the students around, they build up trust and develop enough of a relationship to climb up onto the horse and go for a ride. Through this bond, students have developed respect and compassion for another animal.
Students also really enjoy the outdoor pursuit activities at Bethany Homes. Playing capture the flag is one of our students’ favorite activities. Being able to hide in deep grass among trees takes the game up a notch. Students love hiding and sneaking in on the target without being seen.
CB McMurdo Students have also been learning about surviving in the wild and the importance of being able to start a fire and being responsible when we have a fire. After experimenting with a drill bow and a hand drill, they realize the importance of packing matches. Being able to find food and prepare it on the campfire is an important role of surviving in the wild. After fishing for an afternoon and seeing that we don’t always catch anything, students also learned to appreciate a wiener roast. An additional activity is shelter building where, using only materials found in the forest at Bethany Homes, students build some amazing structures. In a short amount of time they were able to build some amazing shelters that they could be proud of.
Students at C.B. McMurdo School are thankful for the opportunity they have been given to visit Bethany Homes. For some, it is the relationship with the horses and for others it is more the outdoor activities. We all look forward to next time we can visit Bethany Homes.
