Amy Atao’s eighth-grade connections class went fishing, hiking and visited Civil War ruins during their camping trip to Sweetwater Creek State Park on the weekend of April 19.
The camping trip included several activities, including fishing, cooking over the fire, hiking to the ruins and a potluck.
They created the saying “Living like Patriots,” based on the middle school’s mascot. The class plans on creating T-shirts to commemorate the weekend.
“I’m grateful for it, that I have a teacher like Ms. Atao,” said Mellanie Tucker, an eighth-grader.
The trip included Atao, Turley Howard, the Oglethorpe County Middle School’s social worker, Jennifer Fishburn, a teacher at Clarke Middle School, and seven students: Tucker, Jaden Hayes, Brooke Collett, Mianna Cooper, William Deaton, Elcieana Loveless and Cameron Tate.
Origins of the trip began in October, when the class read “Georgia’s Ghost Town,” a story set in Sweetwater Creek State Park. Atao began to plan the trip after reading the story.
Atao, also a Girl Scouts leader, thought the camping trip would be a valuable experience for her students. The goal was to get the students out of a classroom environment and into the outdoors and learn about Georgia history.
“We got to see each other's strengths and weaknesses,” she said.
The students got to know each other better before heading to high school.
Two of the students had never been camping and several, including Collett, learned skills such as washing the dishes, starting fires and cooking.
“You should’ve seen her smile making mac and cheese,” Atao said. “She was so excited to do it without her mom.”
Atao said this trip taught her students that they can go outside and be active without having to play a sport or be competitive.
“You don’t have to go play a sport and buy equipment,” she said. “Just put on some shoes and go walk out in nature.”