Leadership skills are going out the door at Percy Pegler school. Literally, to the great outdoors.
Ryan Lemphers and Ashlea Stevenson lead the Percy Pegler Outdoor Leadership Program, which teaches their city slicker students to appreciate and survive in the environment surrounding the foothills.
A group of the students were bussed to the Sandy McNabb day use area in April to embark upon a day spent learning basic survival skills, including starting a campfire with limited materials.
Using various items such as cotton soaked in petroleum jelly, fine kindling, dry grass, and dryer lint, the students had to devise a plan to start their fire and boil a can of water to make it drinkable.
Developing critical thinking, fostering team work and leadership skills are the primary objectives of the program, which encourages students to work together to complete crucial tasks.
This is the type of hands on learning that can not be replicated in the classroom. Applying practical skills along with enjoying and respecting the environment are what makes this program unique.
Under the instruction of Lemphers, all the student groups managed to boil their can of water with varying degrees of success. All taking the task seriously and with great cooperation.
At the end of the day, the students left Kananaskis with a new sense of accomplishment, leaving the wilderness exactly how they had found it.
