The Riverside Outdoor Club allows students to explore the beautiful natural environment of the lower mainland and learn more about the outdoors.
The philosophy of the club is to provide students with real-world experience and stewardship, to give back, to provide awareness of outdoor opportunities in Port Coquitlam, and to build outdoor skills. The club is sponsored by teachers Ms. Erica McArthur (the founder of the club), Ms. Brenda Yorke, and Mr. Sean Riley. During club day student volunteers from the Outdoor Ed program from 2018-2019 helped to promote the upcoming events; these volunteers were Breelyn Plesha, Emma Schulmeister, Carmen Cariglino, Camron Smith, and Caralyn Wittal, all grade 10 students of Riverside Secondary.
The goal of the Outdoor Club is to get students outside and educate them about the environment and learn to explore safely. McArthur, a teacher at Riverside Secondary, said, “We plan on joint activities and projects with the environmental club lead by Mr. Brian Chan.” This will also encourage students to be more involved with the outdoors and aware of their impact on the environment.
The club hopes to go on hikes and field trips on Thursdays. Two of the major field trips will be to Seymour Mountain. The trips to Seymour mountain will involve skiing, snowboarding, and a snowshoe survival tour. Climb Base 5 Gym, a climbing gym located in Coquitlam. The trip to Climb base 5 will provide a chance for students to learn how to rock climb. Students look forward to the Seymour Mountain and Climb Base 5 trips.
The club is full of like-minded people who all want to go outside and have fun. For example, going to SFU and looking at the starry night on a nice clear day. Students meet every Tuesday at lunch, where they learn helpful skills, such as how to use a compass and how to tie special knots, like knots to tie a boat up or a knot to hang food up when camping. There will also be “open weeks” where students can input some activities of what the club will do.
