Learning outside the classroom
Daniel Eun, Nic Hocking and Gabriel Gabriel Marcano with Idaho backcountry outfitters
MOSES LAKE - Tours of European museums and churches. Trapping beavers in the Idaho back country. Crafting an Adirondack chair.
You'd never see these things take place in a typical classroom, but at Moses Lake Christian Academy one week of each school year is dedicated to an extended learning program that ensures students receive an education that goes beyond the classroom.
"Everyone goes to school and you learn a lot, but a lot of learning doesn't happen within the four walls of a school," said Moses Lake Christian Academy Principal David White. "So we're committed to broadening the outlook of our students and giving them these kinds of experiences which allow them to do some learning in the real world."
Carla Friehe has been the extended learning liaison for all seven years the extended learning program has existed at Moses Lake Christian Academy.
She helps organize a variety of different trips. Seventh graders do science activities related to Grant County, including a tour of the J.R. Simplot, meeting the coroner, dissecting frogs and assembling solar cars.
Eighth graders plan their own trips related to Washington state history, Friehe said. They make their own budgets, navigate Mapquest and investigate trip destinations such as Boeing, Microsoft and Oysterfest. Then their parents have five days to take them on the trips they've planned.
Every three years, students in grades nine through 12 have the opportunity to go to Europe as part of the extended learning program, Friehe said. The extended learning week is always scheduled the week before spring break so students have two full weeks for Europe. The trip focuses on arts and culture and the kids visit many museums and churches in Germany and Italy, Friehe said.
"Some of the kids, you see them in their sports and you see a certain side of them, but once they're on this trip, they really open up and you get to know what kind of kids they really are and they're just amazing," said Amador Castro, who was a chaperone for this year's trip to Europe and is the father of freshman Hannah Castro. "I thought it was really cool to see how they helped each other and really built each other up the whole time we were there. If they saw someone struggling with something they would just help them, which was pretty amazing."
During the first Europe trip, one of the students had rheumatoid arthritis and was in a wheelchair, Friehe said. Two male students, one on each side, lifted her, wheelchair and all, up and down the steps to catch the train. Other students took care of her luggage.
"It just made me almost cry," Friehe said.
"You know how we all have our own little group that we hang out with, especially in high school? Well, it's not like that with this group," said Robin Fode, who also chaperoned this year's trip and is the mother of junior Pharron Fode. "I mean, it is totally out of their comfort zone. It's not that they don't like them and don't see them, because this is a small group of kids at this school, but they don't normally hang out with them and I'm telling you that these kids, they get it. A couple days and they're seeing the best in each other."
"Both of my siblings went before," said junior Abby Garett. "My brother went on the last trip, and my sister went awhile ago, so I'd heard a lot of stories from them ... I was pretty excited."
"We all knew each other going into the trip, but not all of us know each other very well," said sophomore Madison Yamane. "And I feel like I got closer with people I wouldn't have gotten close to if it weren't for the trip."
The itinerary for the trip included stops at St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican. Students also had the opportunity to cook their own authentic Italian meal, making pasta, tomato sauce and tiramisu from scratch.
The kids had to raise money for the Europe trip themselves, which meant doing everything from selling cookies to painting houses to mowing lawns.
"I would just say overall the experience was completely amazing, well worth all the work," said sophomore Holland Gjefle.
Not all of the students opt to go all the way to Europe. Some choose to stay in Moses Lake.
Sophomore Josh Roberts had the opportunity to stay in Moses Lake and build an Adirondack chair from scratch. He said he learned how to use a band saw, table saw and chop saw as part of the process.
Some students stayed in Moses Lake to work with local community service organizations, including the local food bank, where they bagged canned goods and potatoes; the animal shelter, where they walked dogs; Crossroads Resource Center, where they sorted clothing and Desert Springs Community Church, where they fed members of the community.
Senior Kristina Firouzi said she was surprised how many opportunities there were to serve in Moses Lake.
"I didn't even know that we had a soup kitchen in town," she said.
Seniors Mallory Tye and Gabriel Marcano went to a ranch outside of Challis, Idaho. While there, they learned to trap beavers, shot a Civil War-era gun and learned to throw tomahawks and knives. One of their favorite parts of the trip was the 10 mile hike they took.
"The view was amazing," Marcano said.
"It was just a good bonding experience for all of us and we learned a lot of skills that we wouldn't normally learn in everyday life," said Tye. "I had a lot of fun on it."
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