Camp Palomar Gives S.D. Sixth-Graders a Taste of the Wild

Walter Wildlife loves to show off his shiny “deer scat” necklace to his students at the San Diego Unified School District’s Sixth Grade Camp atop this wooded mountain.

During 33 years of teaching science, ecology and Indian folklore at the outdoor education camp, which has operated for 40 years, he has watched as thousands of children have ogled his prized necklace.

But when Walter Wildlife, whose real name is Walter Price, tells the children what his necklace is made of, the reaction is always the same: “Icky!”

“I always wait until after they have it in their hand to tell them it’s made of deer excrement,” Price said of the tiny clump of black dung that he has polished and covered with resin.

He began teaching at the camp in 1952, when there were tar-paper classrooms and bunkhouses nestled in Doane Valley on Mt. Palomar. Now there are efficient block buildings that house a cafeteria, dormitories and classrooms.

Every sixth-grader attending San Diego public schools goes to the camp for five days. More than 7,000 students will go through the program this year at a cost of more than $1.63 million.

Although Price has fun teasing new campers with his deer scat necklace, he and the 24 other staff members introduce the students to much more. For many of the students this is their first time away from home and the first time they have camped in the woods.

During their stay on the mountain, they will learn about astronomy by watching the incredibly black, clear sky. They will learn about trees by walking near and touching giant cedars, oaks and spruces. They will learn how the ancient Indians lived, as they act out the Indians’ daily chores.

“I always felt that hands-on outdoor experience was so important for the students,” said Helen Dillon, 43, who became principal of the camp three years ago. “I can see what it does for them.”

Last week, 230 students from Farb Middle, Ross Elementary and Torrey Pines Elementary schools took their turn to spend five days in Doane Valley. The pristine, heavily wooded area might as well be a million light-years from home for these students, even though it is only a two-hour drive from San Diego.

Because the program is financed through the school district’s $33-million integration budget, Dillon and other administrators attempt to bring together groups from schools that represent a cross section of races and economic backgrounds. Each dormitory and classroom is a combination of children from the three or four schools who are attending the camp that week.

“It’s sort of like when you have friends in one group and you’re in another, you got to make new friends,” said Dawn Klucker, 12, a sixth-grader at Torrey Pines Elementary. “At first, it was scary.”

Patrick Geske, 13, a student at Farb Middle School, had a problem more pressing than making new friends.

“At first I was scared. I didn’t want to go,” he said. “Somebody told me there weren’t curtains on the showers. I was planning on taking a shower with my towel on.”

The showers have curtains.

It is the experience of putting the adolescents together in a different, neutral environment that makes the five days at camp such a special experience, students and teachers say.

“Everyone is bused in here,” Dillon said in reference to the stigma sometimes attached to students who are bused to other schools for integration. “This is neutral territory. If you’re not getting along with someone, you have to deal with it.”

Barbara Wyatt, a vice principal at Farb, said she notices many changes in her students after attending camp.

“They grow up a lot the week they are here,” said Wyatt, who was visiting students at the camp. “They learn some social skills--how to accept people who are different.”

After 33 years of working and living five days a week on the mountain, Price knows by name every native plant, tree and animal in the area. It is this knowledge that he passes on to the students.

“You’re real close to nature here, real close,” said Price, 65, who will retire next month. “It’s an awe-inspiring thing to pass on the information about the environment.”

Price, who got his Walter Wildlife nickname about a decade ago from staff members, relates stories to the children as a wise Indian chief might. His nature hikes are full of tidbits on how to tell direction while in the woods or how to visit the state park without damaging its fragile environment.

“They learn a great deal about themselves,” Price said. “Sometimes this trip gives the students who aren’t good students a big shot in the arm.”