More than 100 Crenshaw High students spent a night under the stars last weekend when the Crenshaw High Eco Club took its third Annual Survivor Challenge Campout at Kenneth Hahn Park.

The students along with 25 chaperones were bussed from the school, 5010 11th Ave., at 3:45 p.m., Friday, October 26, to the park, at 4100 South La Cienega Blvd., in Baldwin Hills.

The group made camp, prepared meals, toasted marshmallows, enjoyed games and, in many instances, had their first experience of the real outdoors.

“Every child deserves the opportunity to experience a backyard camp out and Kenneth Hahn Park is our backyard. This will be the first camping experience for many of these kids,” said Eco Club Director Bill Vanderberg.

After spending a night under the stars, the campers participated in Teens Make A Difference Day, a countywide effort of the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission to encourage volunteerism among teens, by doing an hour and a half of community service in the park planting trees, picking up paper, etc. from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.

The campers returned to Crenshaw High at 11 a.m., on Saturday, October 27.

Each student received a Coleman backpack as part of the camping experience.

The Survivor Challenge is just one of the activities of the Crenshaw Eco Club, a student organization dedicated to expanding students’ knowledge of, respect, for and involvement with the natural environment through outings and community service to local, state, and national parks, while teaching others the importance of caring for the planet.

In addition to the survivor challenge, students participate in regular monthly day hikes in the local parks and mountains, overnight camping trips in the Santa Monica Mountains and expeditions to Yosemite, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. The students also perform community service trail maintenance projects, non-native invasive plant removal and clean-up projects in Kenneth Hahn Park and local state parks.

Funding for most Eco Club activities are made possible by a $50,000 grant from the Sierra Club’s Building Bridges to the Outdoors program.

Published in : Family, Education