Parents of all sixth- and seventh-graders at Denair Middle School are invited to an information meeting about the Foothill Horizons Outdoor Camp. The meeting will be held Wed., Feb. 23 at 5:30 p.m. at the Coyote Center on the DMS campus.
All Denair sixth- and seventh-graders are eligible to attend the outdoor camp near Sonora for a three-day, two-night field trip on April 4-6.
Foothill Horizons is operated by the Stanislaus County Office of Education and certified by the State Department of Education. Set on 143 acres of forest, meadows and creeks, students learn about ecology, how to respect nature and how to cooperate with others.
Traditionally, many sixth-graders from across the region attend the camp for a week in the spring. Because of COVID, that has not happened the past two years.
This year’s Denair eighth-graders – who were in the sixth grade in 2020 – took a one-day field trip to Foothill Horizons in October.
This year’s 140 sixth- and seventh-graders will get a shortened version of the camp experience in April. Outdoor and environmental curriculum related to the camp will be presented in their science classes in the weeks leading up to the camp.
At Wednesday night’s meeting, parents can ask questions as well as sign their children up to attend. Permission forms and health information are required to attend. Deadline to register is March 7.
Unlike previous years, there is no cost to attend the camp. The Denair Unified School District is covering the cost by using money it received from the state.
“We feel this opportunity will be good for our students’ social and emotional health,” said DMS Principal Gabriela Sarmiento. “Especially considering the past couple of years, where a lot of opportunities have been taken away from them.”
