Outdoor School at Camp DaKani

Each year, Campfire USA hosts Positive Tomorrows students for a lesson in the outdoors.  Outdoor school is a time when our students, most from the inner city, are exposed to nature, wild-life and the habitats of Oklahoma.  They hike, fish and run and play.  It is truly something each child will remember for the rest of their lives.  As our children prepared to load the bus for Camp DaKani, one student squealed as she jumped up and down, “I love Camp DaKani.” 

Since camping and fishing tend to be structured family outings, it is generally one of the experiences that homeless children miss.  Here at Positive Tomorrows, we attempt to re-create these experiences so our students have the same access to knowledge and information as other children.  Inevitably, they become inspired by something as miraculous and breath-taking as a caterpillar turning into a chrysalis, then turning into a butterfly.

At the end of their day at outdoor school, the children filed back down the hall, worn out but content from their outdoor adventures.  The kindergarten students were not immune from telling fish stories.  One kindergartner told us his fish weighed 100 pounds.  When asked how many fish they caught, stories ranged from 1 to 100 fish.  Even the quietest student, Isaac, cracked a smile when his classmate yelled, “I caught the biggest fish of all!”