Lincoln School Seventh Graders Celebrate More Than 40 Years at Stokes State Forest

Release submitted by Lincoln School.

For over FORTY years, Lincoln School’s 7th grade class has attended the NJ School of Conservation program run by Montclair State University. During this three day educational adventure, our 7thgrade students were exposed to a variety of cooperative learning experiences. This educational trip to Montclair State University's School of Conservation was a memorable adventure where all of our 7thgraders and chaperones came together to learn about the environment and share in the joys of communing with nature. This year’s trip took place on September 26-28 and was coordinated by Mr. Matt Burke. The teacher chaperones were Mrs. Karen Lukacovic and Mrs. Storey Dohner. As part of this wonderful program, our students were able to participate in many activities. They included the Action Socialization Experiences (aka the ASEs) which are problem-solving situations that stimulate immediate participation in the activity. These experiences encouraged our students to cooperatively decide on solutions to carefully designed problems and then carry out their plan of action as quickly and efficiently as possible. Also included at Stokes are activities such as the Confidence Course where the students went through sequential activities that required both trust in the group members and confidence in one’s self, the Climbing Wall which includes both a 20-foot and 35-foot high wooden structure with blocks for hand and foot holds, Fish Ecology, and Survival Strategies where the emphasis was on basic survival concepts, shelter building, starting a fire, finding drinking water, and foraging for food. Whole group activities included our traditional three mile hike to Sunrise Mountain and canoeing! Student confidence was bolstered with each activity as they all required our students to be true to our school’s motto: “Work Hard, Be the Best That You Can Be, and Be Kind to One Another!”