By Sophie Weinstein ’13, Contributor
With the many acres of land the school owns and all the resources in the surrounding area (Little Miami River, Perfect North Slopes), it is suprising that out of all the clubs the Upper School offers, there wasn’t a club utilizing the surroundings until this year. Jack Wildman ’10 said he felt that a club needed to be formed to fill the gap and decided to create the outdoors club with fellow seniors Will Fritz, Basil DeJong, and Will Duncan.
“I’ve always been passionate about the outdoors, and in many ways my experience at CCDS lacked a strong connection to nature,” said Wildman. “We created the outdoors club to bring more environmental awareness to the CCDS community, as well as show people through activities and outings how fun the outdoors really can be.”
The club started a new initiative for saving harbor seals with a strong presentation that got students talking. “I thought that the video at assembly was very graphic but somewhat necessary for the club to get their point across,” Sally Portman ’13 said.
Dean of Service Learning Deborah Floyd met with members of the club before their presentation to okay the film. “They were very sensitive to the fact that they had graphic images and wanted to have someone preview it to see if it was appropriate,” Ms. Floyd said. “Although it’s very disturbing footage the truth is that’s what the killing of seals is all about and without showing that film they never would have been able to make their point.”
Cassie Sachs ’13 said, “Most students seemed very affected by the video which will probably lead to lots of participation during seal month.”
Wildman became aware of the World Wildlife Fund after following the trans-arctic canoe expedition, a group of guys led by a CCDS graduate who canoed 800 miles in the Arctic Circle to raise $30,000 for the WWF. After learning about the World Wildlife Fund the club heads knew they wanted to raise money for that charity, and decided to choose a specific animal. They visited the WWF website and learned about the plight of the harbor seals.
“This coincided perfectly with the fact that I encountered wild seals on my canoe trip last summer in northern Canada,” said Wildman. “It was an easy decision to support an animal in such danger, especially after seeing them in their natural habitat over the summer.”
The Outdoors Club plans to design and sell t-shirts to raise awareness about the persecution of seals and continue having fund raisers throughout the year to add to the 350 dollars they’ve already raised.
In addition to Seal Month, the Outdoors Club has already hosted its first successful event, Free Climb Friday. “We were expecting a solid turnout for Free Climb Friday, but we would have never guessed that the response would be so great,” explained Wildman. “Over 60 people attended the inaugural event, further proving the fact that CCDS students want to become more involved in outdoor activities: all we need to do is provide the opportunities!”
Throughout the year the club will continue to have fundraisers and plan events that get the CCDS community outside. They already have plans for another free climb Friday, a mountain biking clinic, and a canoeing/kayaking day trip. Even into the winter the club will still have trips like skiing and snowboarding at Perfect North and “skill clinics” for students interested in hiking and camping.
“Our club has really two types of events: fundraising events targeting an environmental concern, and outings where we teach people certain skills,” Wildman said. “Our hope is to continue doing both [throughout the year].”
