Community guests are a facet of new social studies class

On Sept. 21, Ray Witt visited Brandon Vicker's social studies classroom at Worland High School to talk to his outdoor adventure students.

As the owner of The Outdoorsman, a retail store for all things outdoors in Worland, Witt was invited to offer his insight to help students with their "Hunting Trip of a Lifetime" assignments.

Students were tasked with planning a mock hunting trip given a set budget. They could go anywhere in the world, but had to work out the logistics of how to get there, their equipment and all the other details to work within their budget.

Witt gave the class his perspective as a person who has spent his career working in the outdoor industry. He answered questions on the assignment ranging from what tent material is appropriate for a two-week stay in Maine to the price versus quality of rifle optics.

In his first year of teaching outdoor adventure, Brandon Vickers said that bringing in guests has been an integral part of the new class. He said, "I want to bring in as many guests as I can, because listening to me talk is one thing but I think it gives kids a different perspective when they see people from the community."

Outdoor adventure is a brand new geography class offered as an upperclassmen elective at Worland High School. Vickers describes the class as building on knowledge of geography in a meaningful way, while also exposing his class to careers and opportunities. The class covered outdoor survival in its first unit, and is covering hunting and conservation in the second. Vickers was not sure what the full curriculum will entail at the time of the interview on Sept. 26, saying, "I'm building the plane as I fly it."

Vickers said that the class came to be when he was given the option of bringing back a returning elective or coming up with a new one. He said, "The administration and I saw an opportunity for innovation and we took it."

He added, "As a school, we're looking to engage students in a new way. Society is moving away from traditional learning, and even I'm noticing things that used to work just don't anymore ... I don't have any reasons as to why. We're trying to engage kids in school that are being bombarded by all these distractions, and trying to make it meaningful for students that may not be interested in a college path."

As part of this philosophy of improving engagement, Vickers has been hard at work assembling a guest list for his class. He said, "I just think about the unit we are in, and what people from the community can support learning about that. I think it's a powerful way to build on what we do in class."

Vickers said that the support he has received in this endeavor from other staff has been overwhelming. He said, "I get lots of ideas and help too from other staff. One of our math teachers actually reached out to a well-known climber in Jackson Hole and asked him if he could come talk to my class, and he agreed. So I've got quite a list of potential guests."

He added, "In my very biased opinion, I think that student response to the class has been very positive so far. Part of that is that they are interested in the content, which is what you hope for in an elective class, but I think they can really tell that this class is about them."