Excerpt from the Mt Shasta Herald, Steve Gerace

Life isn’t always like a day on the river for freshmen, but the Klamath River recently served as classroom for 40 Weed Highschool freshmen.

Memorable moments included riding the rapids from the front of a raft and splashing classmates and teachers.

“High School as a journey” is the theme for the BASE project, and core teachers, with the help of River Dancers, took students on an educational trip that included adrenaline rushes, team bonding and good fun.

“It forced us to work together and communicate with people who we might not get to work with often. It was a valuable experience” said freshman Jacob Turner.

The journey began at the Tree of Heaven campground, where students were introduced to the river ecosystem and told Native American stories by John McDermott. While on the river, River Dancers guides taught students key communication skills used to navigate rapids, the different parts of the river and about the range of depth and flow of the river.

Students had the opportunity to pick blackberries and had a group lunch beneath the trees with the river flowing in the background.

“It was a nice team bonding and a memorable experience” said freshman Elyssa Fisher. “It was awesome, I hope to do it again” said Giordan Stenmark.