On Monday, September 20th 18 students and staff from Bear Lodge High School in Sundance arrived at the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming’s HR Camp located outside of Douglas. The group was looking to use their two-day trip as an opportunity to bond and come together as a community. Joining them on their journey were three members from Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Sundance.
Bear Lodge High School is Crook County’s alternative High School. Its mission is to provide a quality education, in a small classroom setting to students that are looking for a choice in their learning environment. The current enrollment is 16 students and because of the small student body the school is very much a community. And as students graduate and new students enroll the community is changing each year. To facilitate community the students and staff attended a team building camp at HR Camp this week.
During their two days at the camp, the group was able to use the ropes course, to hike, learn about stewardship and relax as a team. Joe Price, Math and Science teacher at Bear Lodge, came with few expectations. He explained” I’m looking for the children to get out of their comfort zone. Some will stumble and I’d like to see how they respond.”
Principal Dale Peterson hoped” to see how the students develop into leaders during this trip. This will not only serve them at Bear Lodge but outside the classroom as well.” When asked about the school’s relationship with Good Shepherd, Sundance he went on to say ” they’ve been there for us. They help provide food for our cantina, which allows our kids to have a meal when they may not get one on at home. And, they made this possible” referring to the experience at HR Camp.
As the camp came to an end, Pat Walsh, the director for HR Camp, said, “ this was an opportunity for children, teachers and Good Shepherd to come together and, regardless of their background, have a shared experience. This is an event they’ll be able to draw from the entire year.”
Good Shepherd became involved with Bear Lodge HS nearly two years ago during the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming’s Mustard Seed Project. During this project, each church within the diocese was given $12,000 to use for outreach. Bear Lodge HS was one of Good Shepherd’s recipients.
Over the past two years BLHS and GS have spent holidays preparing meals together, celebrating the seasons and end of the school year and have even restored a green house. This green house has given BLHS it’s own outreach program: allowing them to trade saplings for canned food items which in turn were donated to a local charity. The green house has also become a source of revenue for the school as they have sold the produce they have grown. Some of these proceeds were used to pay for their experience at HR camp.
To see photos click here.
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