Every Spring, Camellia’s 8th grade class honors the completion of their grade school years with a special class trip. This trip typically involves a journey into the natural world as well as a service component to allow opportunities for personal growth and further development of trust, self-reliance, confidence, independence, gratitude and communication. Through collaboration between the class teacher and guides, students are led in a conscious way to reflect on their grade school journey. This experience serves to provide a sense of closure and inwardly ready them for high school and beyond.
Upon completion of this trip, it is common that students express new levels of appreciation and gratitude for everyday life, as well as a heightened sense of respect toward loved ones and a new sense of responsibility in the world.
In 2019, students completed a nine-day hiking and community service trip along the Lost Coast in Northern California with Kroka Expeditions. Students hiked 5-11 miles every day (in the rain), camped outdoors, cooked their meals over a fire, and complete community service projects on the property of the Frey Vineyards which was decimated by recent fires in Mendocino County.
