BROWNSVILLE – Ryan Sparrow passed slowly in front of the children sitting beneath a tarp.
He held a bullsnake in his hands, and he was giving the third graders from IDEA Academy Brownsville an opportunity to feel its scales or even hold it.
“Is he from Texas?” asked Sparrow, a guide at IDEA Academy’s Camp RIO near Brownsville.
The children, all smartly-dressed in blue shirts and watching with inquisitive eyes, replied it was.
They’d been listening.
“So he’s a native,” Sparrow declared with a smile on his face.
IDEA Public Schools has purchased the 85-acre Camp RIO to provide more hands-on learning experiences like these. IDEA has been leading field trips there for two years, developing various “stations” where children could learn about archery, canoing, reptiles and other activities.
“We’ve been leasing it,” said Sam Goessling, chief advancement officer for IDEA.
Now with the purchase, the camp will be expanded. New activities will be offered and existing facilities will be improved such as the archery range.
“We will have a world-class archery range that will be open to the public,” he said. “We will be renovating the infrastructure, plumbing, electrical.”
Previously, only IDEA Public Schools students were able to attend field trips to the camp. However, IDEA will now allow any schools to use the facility. Activities are adjusted for each grade level from second to 12th. One day will focus strictly on a specific grade, such as third graders one day and fifth graders another.
Grace Reed, 11, has taken two of those field trips.
“It was really fun,” said Grace, a Harlingen resident who attends fifth grade at IDEA Academy – San Benito.
She enjoyed the diversity of so many activities in just one day.
“We had a lot of different activities,” Grace said. “We had to geocache. We’d go into the woods. We had to figure out a math equation. Whatever we had on the pad, we had to go into the woods and find the numbers.”
Canoeing was another cool experience. She’d had little exposure to the sport until that time. Three children climbed into each canoe. One served as the captain in the front. Another sat in the middle.
“In the back was the one with the paddle,” she said. “Some of us were paddling. It was a really fun experience.”
At the Camp yesterday, third graders from IDEA Academy paddled away as they struggled to find their way across an 11-acre resaca.
“This way, this way,” shouted Sarah Galvan, a teacher from IDEA Academy – Brownsville. She said the activity was great not only for exposing students to something new, but also to teach teamwork.
Meanwhile, back at the reptile and turtle area, Sparrow continued to fascinate the children with the bullsnake, Texas tortoise, desert kingsnake, and snapping turtle.
“It’s really nice that we are getting interested in nature,” said Kole Martinez, 8. “It was only last year that we came here.”
Many have pointed out this is the first introduction to nature for some children. In reality, it could easily be argued they are returning to nature, the primal birthplace of humanity and all that there is.
* Camp RIO is located at the historic Camp Lula Sams off Stillman Road near Brownsville
* Camp RIO covers 85 acres of Tamaulipas thorn scrub
* It is home to the ocelot, bobcat, jaguarondi, Texas horned lizard
* IDEA Public Schools and the Valley Land Fund are working to preserve the natural habitat of the property. Supporters include the Texas Parks and Wildlife and Patrick Burchfield from Gladys Porter Zoo.
* IDEA Public Schools began leasing the property about two years for field trips. IDEA students take day-long field trips where they engage in all sort of activities for a real-world learning experience.
* IDEA purchased the property in July and is planning to expand opportunities there.
Activities:
Nature photography
Archery
Tomahawk throwing
Geocaching
Canoeing: Taught on an 11-acre Resaca
which is about 2 1/2 to 3-feet deep.
