The Mount Pleasant High School Wildlife and the Mt. Pleasant Junior High School Outdoor Adventure classes got together to learn how to build emergency lean-to's in the woods between the two campuses.
“This is part of our survival unit,” said Van Bowen, who teaches both classes. “It’s goal is to teach our students what to do if they were in the woods hunting or hiking and a sudden snow storm came up. To survive, they would need a temporary place to take shelter till the storm passed. The key word is temporary meaning built just good enough to get through the night. The shelters are not built to hold up for days.”
Students were put in groups of two, three or four, Bowen explained. They had 30 minutes to build the shelter which could be made from whatever they could find in the woods.
“It was amazing to see all the different approaches each group took to build the shelters,” he said. “Some were tall shelters while others were just high enough off the ground to lay down under the shelter.”
The High School Wildlife class is part of the Agri-Science Curriculum in the Career and Technology Department. It teaches the management of game and non-game wildlife species, fish and aqua-crops and their ecological needs and how these practices impact the environment. It also teaches how man should interact with the environment around him.
The Junior High Outdoor Adventure class is designed to teach skills needed to safely undertake outdoor activities. It also teaches the importance of wildlife conservation. The course uses curriculum provided by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, according to Bowen.
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