For more than three decades, the Norwegian School of Nature Life – later changed to the Norwegian Outdoor Education Center, taught children the philosophy of “friluftsliv,” or learning how to live simply and unselfishly through the lessons learned in nature.
Thirty years later, with so much more youth programming available, the school closed for financial reasons. Now founder Tom Cammemeyer said it’s time to bring it back.
“[It’s] taking kids out into nature and just experiencing this philosophy of “friluftsliv,” Cammemeyer said. “It's this free air life or life in nature. Have them take off their watches. When they're hungry, they eat; when they're tired, they rest. And now we're incorporating some new aspects of it, so it's not just philosophical, but it's a lot more technical, with avalanche awareness, route selection and different aspects of getting us into nature.”
Elliott Goldman who has a background in outdoor education, approached Cammemeyer a few years ago to see if he was interested in bringing back the program.
“Tom was still leading kids on trips through Another Way school, and so I got hired there to kind of be Tom's assistant, and just fell in love with the whole philosophy, the whole program,” Goldman said. “And I felt like I was able to bring some of these more technical skills that are more focused on teaching students, you know, how to safely explore nature on their own terms.”
The two are starting out slowly as they continue to fundraise in order to purchase a van. This summer they’ll be offering a two-week summer camp in July. Camp will just be three half-days each week for ages 7 to 11.
“Hopefully, as we go on, we can expand the age groups, expand all the programs, work with existing organizations, and just keep the dream alive,” he said.
Camp days will be spent in the Uinta Mountains to get away from busy trails and cell service.
