A letter from Valley Catholic Middle School Principal Dr. Jennifer Gfroerer
Dear VCMS Families,
VCMS Outdoor Education Expands
Valley Catholic Middle School is deepening its commitment to experiential learning and environmental stewardship through its renewed Outdoor Education program, which now unfolds across all three grade levels and all three seasons of the school year. Each student will participate in outdoor Education throughout their middle school years. Each year, students experience one all-school field trip and one grade-specific adventure, allowing them to explore Oregon’s natural beauty while strengthening their sense of connection, curiosity, and faith.
On Oct. 27, the eighth-grade students spent a full day at Camp Howard as part of Valley Catholic’s expanding Outdoor Education program. This new program launched with the seventh-grade trip last May, followed by an all-school experience in September, all made possible through grant support and title funding. The fall trip included a series of experiences that will continue with the sixth-grade visit later this winter and the seventh-grade trip in early spring. Each excursion blends reflection, teamwork, and outdoor challenges, helping students build confidence and resilience as they learn from and in the natural world.
At Camp Howard, students began their day with morning prayer and orientation before engaging in activities such as orienteering, archery, and guided forest hikes. Camp Howard staff led skill-based learning and recreation sessions, while Valley Catholic faculty facilitated problem-solving challenges and group reflection. The day closed around a campfire with songs, s’mores, and prayer, an experience that reminded students of the simple joy of connection, gratitude, and community under the open sky. Faculty also used the day to plan future outdoor learning modules that will include environmental science labs, faith-based reflection walks, and cross-curricular fieldwork, ensuring that Outdoor Education remains a consistent and integrated part of student life.
Next spring, the learning will continue as Waves of Love returns to Rockaway Beach, a cherished Valley Catholic tradition that has been occurring for more than twenty years. The original program was designed to give middle school students authentic, hands-on service experiences that made a tangible difference. Through the years, it has built lasting partnerships with Rockaway’s residents and parish community. Although last year’s trip was cut short by a highway closure, this year’s event promises a full day of environmental service, community engagement, and applied learning. Guided by the Sea Turtles Are Forever curriculum and supported by Rockaway’s city officials, students will participate in a microplastic cleanup along the shoreline, putting their STEM lessons on plastic pollution into real-world action. Teachers are integrating this work across disciplines, connecting environmental science, ecology, data collection, and faith-based stewardship. A new student-led grant-writing component will also empower young leaders to explore how funding, communication, and collaboration can drive sustainable change.
These experiences (one in the forest, one at the beach) reflect the evolving vision of Outdoor Education at Valley Catholic. They invite students to live what they learn, to practice faith, curiosity, and compassion in the world around them, and to see stewardship not as something separate from academics, but as part of who they are becoming. The goal is to help students discover their place in God’s creation, strengthen their sense of belonging, and understand that service and learning are most powerful when they happen side by side.
Together, Camp Howard and Waves of Love embody Valley Catholic’s commitment to educating the whole child (mind, body, and spirit) and to fostering a lifelong connection between knowledge, faith, and care for the world we share.
Dr. Jennifer Gfroerer
