New class taught in the great outdoors

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Provided by Outdoor Adventures Class

Students in the new Outdoor Adventures class have spent the semester learning how to erect lean-tos and pup tents, tie fishing knots and cast lines, and start campfires with only cotton balls, steel wool and Vaseline.

If you’ve seen students setting up tents, lighting small fires and roasting marshmallows out on the field don’t worry, they’re not gearing up for the zombie apocalypse, they’re practicing what they’ve learned in the new Outdoor Adventures class.

Jeff Waldrop, coach and teacher, has a passion for the outdoors and years of experience camping, fishing and surviving in it. He worked hard to bring the class to AHS so he could share that passion with students.

“My goal is to get kids interested in the outdoors,” he said. “It [the class] started at Martin about eight years ago and everybody had it except for us. I wanted to start it for a long time but it was tough.”

The class, offered in partnership with Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Dallas Safari Club, is a semester filled with lessons on basic survival and outdoor cooking skills, and boater’s, hunter’s and angler’s education.

In the class’ inaugural semester, there are 22 students with about a third of those being girls. Most class periods are spent learning through hands-on activities, and the students seem to enjoy the out-of-desk experience.

“He’s just really good at teaching it and easy to learn from,” Hayden Zacha, sophomore, said.

The class is currently slated to be offered only during the fall semester but as student interest grows, as will the class.