Arrah Wanna - Facilities |
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DINING HALL
The dining hall at Arrah Wanna is centrally located. Most of the site is flat and many of the primary pathways are paved, making it reasonably accessible for students with mobility issues. Students, high school Student Leaders, Staff, and Teachers eat family style in the spacious dining hall. Hot, varied, and nutritious meals are prepared by our professional kitchen staff, and students are assigned to help set the tables, deliver and serve the food during the meal, and clean up after the meal on a rotating basis. The dining hall serves as a central hub of activity throughout the day. Students participate in a ceremonial raising and lowering of the flag each morning and evening, and evening campfire programs are held inside the dining hall facing the grand fireplace in case of inclement weather. The Arrah Wanna Outdoor School office and the on-site nurse's office are located near the dining hall, and the staff quarters are located inside. |
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OUTDOOR SCHOOL NURSE
There is a registered nurse on site 24 hours a day while your student is at Outdoor School. The nurse takes care of injuries and illnesses as they arise, and also has commonly-forgotten items (like sleeping bags, jackets, and toothbrushes) available to lend. The nurse is available to discreetly clean soiled sleeping bags as needed throughout the week. If you have specific health care or dietary concerns, please contact the Outdoor School Program Nurse, Peggy Sedlak: psedlak@mesd.k12.or.us |
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CABINS
There are four separate cabin areas at Arrah Wanna, consisting of 3-4 cabins each. Each heated cabin serves 6-10 students (a few from each class) and 1-3 high school Student Leaders. Cabins are supervised by staff members. All participants sleep on bunk beds with mattresses. Students should bring a sleeping bag (or blankets) and pillow for their stay. Some cabins areas have restrooms inside each cabin, and some cabin areas are served by a nearby restroom facility. |
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RESTROOMS AND SHOWERS
The restrooms in each cabin area are centrally located, and contain private stalls for toilets and showers. In addition to the main cabin area restrooms / shower houses, Arrah Wanna features a modern shower house building near the pavillion, and additional smaller restrooms inside the dining hall and inside the nurse's station. Arrah Wanna has multiple locations with what can be easily set up as gender-neutral bathrooms. The dining hall has two bathrooms that are single-occupancy, which makes them gender-neutral. There are gender-neutral bathrooms/showers in both Stearns and Fernhaven cabins. If, for whatever reason, we need another gender-neutral bathroom, we have access to the single stall of the boys cabin area shower house. We will label those with appropriate gender-neutral signage. The site supervisor will inform student leaders of the gender-neutral option at workshop and as part of our initial Sunday meeting with staff and student leaders. During introductory orientation students and teachers will be informed about all of the bathroom and privacy options available to them.
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OTHER FEATURES
Weather permitting, the entire Arrah Wanna Outdoor School community gathers each evening for a campfire program at the outdoor campfire facility. Students perform skits and enjoy songs, and it is many students' favorite part of Outdoor School. During inclement weather, campfire programs take place in front of the grand fireplace in the Dining Hall. Each afternoon, students participate in recreation, consisting of games, hikes, arts & crafts, archery, or other non-academic activities. These activities are led by staff members or classroom teachers and consist of a mixture of students from each participating class. Field study, the "school" part of Outdoor School, takes place throughout the site, and takes advantage of our incredible local nature. The Arrah Wanna site is located along the banks of the Salmon River, and features lush forests and incredible views. Photos of the natural areas and some of the equipment and specimens used on field study can be found arranged by field study on the Science & Nature page. |
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