UPDATED:
“Everybody felt basically sore and tired,” junior John Moller said of his classmates this morning after a night spent outside in Casa Grande’s quad.
Even with jackets and a sleeping bag, he was still cold but it “wasn’t too bad.”
“I guess the hardest part was sleeping on the hard ground,” he said.
Moller, who was part of the food crew, got up around 5 a.m. to cut shred potatoes, chop onions and fry Spam.
“It was interesting – kind of a different taste,” he said.
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UPDATED: Just heard from co-coordinator of Casa Grande’s overnight sleep out in the quad in their lesson on poverty, the great depression and homelessness.
“It was a really great experience,” said English teacher Kelin Backman.
“I think next year we’ll need kids to know how cold it really gets. There were a lot of really cold kids,” she said. “That was to be expected, they just didn’t know.”
Backman had the students write journal responses and discuss the experience today. But she also popped in the Coen brothers “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” for comic relief.
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The overnight camp out in the quad of Casa Grande High School went “surprisingly well,” according to U.S. History teacher Kiri Brackett, one of two teachers who dreamed up the idea to drive home students’ lessons on poverty.
About 30 Casa juniors spent Thursday night outside, sheltered by little more than a shade structure and walls of cardboard and hanging tarps.
“You have read about it, you have talked about it…this put it all together, put it all in perspective,” Brackett said. “This is what we are talking about. You wake up in the middle of the night – ‘Ow, it’s cold.’ It finally becomes something that is real to them.”
Students were required to head off to class this morning without heading home for a shower or change of clothes. The shantytown set up was left in the quad so other students would question what it was, Brackett said.
“The kids had a blast,” she said. “But they are dragging today.”
Students were asked to give up all modern conveniences except for one. Some chose cell phones (but they weren’t allowed to use them), others coffee drinks or soda.
Students played acoustic guitar, then a hearty round of hide and seek around the school until about midnight, Brackett said.
A crew of three students awoke at 5 a.m. to prepare a breakfast of shredded potatoes and fried Spam over a grill.
I’ve got calls into some participating students and will update this post later today with their reflections on how it went.
Read today’s story here and check out Crista Jeremiason’s photos:
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20100304/NEWS/100309733/1349?Title=A-taste-of-homelessness