L-R: Lila Knadler, Dara Werber, Dominic Rasmussen, Micah Jo Huerta, Jace Eagle, and Emma Beckworth standing with the goatOn April 19-21, 2023, the freshman class at Aldo Leopold Charter School went on a camping trip right by the Gila River for a mini-course called “Aldo Count”. For those three days at the campsite, we learned different primitive skills, swam in the river, and bonded around the campfire, singing songs. The highschoolers from Aldo who were not among the freshman class were invited to come on the second day to participate in the Leadership Enhancement Workshop (LEW) which was an optional sweat lodge ceremony in which students would sit in a small  enclosure, with hot, wet rocks that gave off steam. Quite a few sophomores and juniors decided to come and engage in the activity.

The Aldo Count campsite was not entirely fit for our habitation when we arrived. We split the class into two groups for the first part of the day: students who wished to stay at the campsite and clear a kitchen area, dig a campfire pit, etc., and students who wanted to learn about the processing of goat meat with teacher Dr. Jaime Thompson. Dr. Thompson had brought a live goat with him, with the notion that students should learn about where their food comes from. They treated the goat with utmost respect in its last moments, but they did the butchering, so that all of the students involved would not take for granted the lives of the animals they eat. Afterwards, students started to help clear camping spots and set up their tents, and then, for the remainder of the day, we essentially had time to just appreciate and be immersed in nature, until dinner, which was goat meat soup or burritos, if you didn’t want the soup.

Thursday the 20th was the day with the most curriculum packed into it. We still had a very solid chunk of free time at the end of the day, but from the morning until a couple of hours after lunch, we had the option of being at a salve making station, a felting station, a goat meat processing station, or a martial arts/yoga station. Students could go to multiple of these stations over the course of the day, or we could stay at one all day. But while we were learning at our stations, Pete Rankin was driving back to the school to pick up the highschoolers who wanted to participate in the Leadership Enhancement Workshop (the sweat lodge) with the freshmen. They came and set up their tents, and from about 5:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. they sweated at the lodge. When they returned, they went straight to bed. 

The final day was dedicated mostly to packing up tents and gear, still with good nature appreciation time packed in. Around 1:00 p.m. students headed back to the school. Overall, it was an excellent trip. It was loads of fun, very educational, and a great bonding experience. Those who went to the sweat lodge ceremony mostly had great things to say, and I think that everyone managed to have a good time while learning out in the Gila.