Eastern Shore and Echo Hill Outdoor

Who would have thought a few years ago, as a History-Political Science/Business/Spanish major that I would A) teach English- a class I never took in college or B) teach at an outdoor school with an extreme science focus- classes I avoided at all costs in college. It is funny where life can take us, and how pleasant of a surprise it is. I think one of the best things I did for myself was not having a plan or an objective going into or coming out of college. Sure I had my fair share of ideas about what to do with my life, but ultimately I have been able to follow my heart and find some pretty nifty ideas. 

With that said, let me elaborate a little more about what I am doing these days. I am currently employed at Echo Hill Outdoor School, located right on the Chesapeake Bay with a swamp (what was a previously a pond before a marsh before the swamp) that Capitan John Smith mentioned specifically in his diaries exploring the “New World.”  Yup, right smack dab in Maryland, on the East coast where I never thought I’d be for more than a week.  My loyalty to the Eastern Shore (of Maryland that is) is already starting to blossom because of the amazing people, opportunity, lush vegetation, and breathtaking sunsets. That is just the cherry to top off the sundae, because what I have been hired to do is pretty special. Echo Hill is what I deem as a “field trip school,” where schools come for a 1-5 days to experience the great outdoors, expand their knowledge, learn about individual and group development, and just have fun! Our schedule keeps the kids (and inadvertently ourselves) super busy throughout the week, but with a lot of variety so that there is never a dull moment.

Since I have been out here I have done a number of new and really exciting things for a girl from Montana. Life on the Chesapeake is full of water adventure, fresh crab, and a number of new creatures I had never gotten the chance to touch before. The school itself has opened up a lot of these new doors for me. Training week started out with a hands on introduction to a core of our course. These include adventure classes focused on pushing yourself as well as your team to get through mentally and physically difficult task /puzzles, bay studies on the Chesapeake looking at the life found below the surface, scanoe class through our swamp, as well as sailing and crabbing on some of the school boats around the watershed. That is just a few of the many really cool things we have the ability to introduce the kids to here at Echo Hill. I have found myself learning just as much, if not more than most of the kids out here since this area is so foreign to anything I have studied or encountered in the past. The learning experience alone is worth the time, my coworkers and the kids we shortly come in contact with really seal the deal and really make it worthwhile to get out of bed after repetitive long days.

Let me run you through I typical EHOS day. The day starts with the ringing of a bell at 7:30 to wake you and the tent side kids for breakfast. Breakfast starts at 8:00 and starts with thanking, sharing, and a moment of silence. We then enter the dining area, known as the Whip, where we serve food family style with an Echo Hill staff member dishing up food for each person with the point of not wasting too much food. After breakfast a few members of staff wrap up breakfast with a SLOP skit (Stuff Left On Plate) and a song. We start our first class at 9:00 and run it until 12:00, when we repeat the meal process before an hour of rest time. The second class for the day starts at 2:00 and goes until 5:00, only to be interrupted for an hour of extra time which most of the kids spend on the beach. We then serve dinner, sometimes on the beach or sometimes in the woods, giving the kids a somewhat unique experience to dine outside over a campfire. The last activity starts at 7:30 and goes until 9:00. This is different than class and can be a night hike, night hayride and games, or a class based on Dr. Seuss ‘s The Lorax. Leaving little time for boredom, but lots of time for unique and entertaining experiences through the large variety of classes we offer. What is best about this is we are rarely alone leaving a lot of time to not only new material and experiential methods, but really develop the family atmosphere that has quickly adopted all of us just arriving this fall.

I am excited to see how this all develops. I am quickly feeling at home and now ready to explore the East Coast being within driving distance of a lot of the big cities, historical sites, and friendsI only used to be able to imagine visiting.