Last-minute fundraising saves outdoor school this year for 95 Newport sixth-graders

By SHAYLA ESCUDERO/Lincoln Chronicle 

For four days out of the school year, Newport Middle School sixth graders trade their classroom for a campground in the Cascade mountains. Instead of a bell, the school day is measured by morning hikes and evening s’mores. Students trade textbooks for kayaks, scavenger hunts and stargazing.

But, beyond the curriculum there’s a type of learning that isn’t exactly measurable or even easy to describe. For many students it’s their first time away from home and for disadvantaged students it might be their first time outdoors – ever.

“They change somehow,” said middle school social science teacher Jan Dickey. “Away from everything they know they get a different sense of the different possibilities in life; their eyes open.”

The campground at Suttle Lake was already reserved when Lincoln County School District administrators found out that this year’s funding for the program was squeezed across Oregon schools.

Outdoor school is funded mostly through the Oregon Legislature along with a percentage of lottery funds. For 2025, the legislature allocated $48 million – $12 million less than years past and affecting schools across the state.

The Lincoln County district had already booked the campground at Suttle Lake when they found out they would have a $20,000 deficit to support outdoor school.

“My heart just sank,” Dickey said. “We really believe in what we are doing so we didn’t consider cutting back.”

District staff knew they were going to Suttle Lake, they just didn’t know how exactly. That’s where the Newport Booster Club came in – which really is only four people, said Amelia Vaughn.

They got to grant writing, getting more than $15,000 including funds from the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians Tribal Charitable Contributions Fund, which covered transportation costs. Even office staff began buying candy and selling them at games. Local businesses and organizations chipped and by the end of it they had raised $23,000.

This year 95 students went to the outdoor school, participating in forest ecology, water quality testing, wildlife tracking, night sky astronomy, challenges and skits.

“A lot of kids that struggle in the classroom thrive in the outdoors,” Vaughn said.

Ask someone who participated in outdoor school after 10, 20, 30 years and they will still remember the experience, said Newport Middle School principal Marty Perez, who still remembers his first sleeping bag, first fire, first s’more.

“I’m super proud of our community for investing in our kids and I’m confident they created memorable experiences that will last years to come,” he said.

• Shayla Escudero is an enterprise reporter for the Lincoln Chronicle covering local governments, education, housing and social services and can be reached at [email protected]