faithful advocate

by Tara LaVelle, for The Bulletin Special Projects

photos by Kari Mauser

Under a canopy of stars on a warm summer night, her bare feet dangling off a swimming dock, a young Lora Nordquist experienced a moment of peace and tranquility unique to the solitude of nature.

“I felt safe,” she recalled,

“like I belonged there.”

It was during those years as a young

Girl Scout that Nordquist’s lifelong love of the outdoors was ignited. It became a driving force behind her advocacy for keeping nature and outdoor

education experiences alive in

the public school system.

Lora Nordquist is currently the assistant superintendent for Bend-La Pine Schools. She was a high school English teacher in rural Virginia, Seaside, and Sisters for a total of 22 years, and served as Sisters Middle School principal for six years.

In her post as an administrator with Bend-La-Pine Schools, she was instrumental in the long-term vision and planning stages of the Deschutes Children’s Forest, a fairly new program dedicated to getting kids outside, active and connected with nature.

“Lora has been incredibly supportive of Deschutes Children’s Forest and is a huge advocate of the benefits of outdoor learning for students and teachers,” said Katie Chipko, coordinator for the Deschutes Children’s Forest.

Bend-La Pine Schools is a formal partner of the Deschutes Children’s Forest collaborative. Chipko credits Nordquist for making this partnership “come to life,” by advocating districtwide for the importance of outdoor programs.

Last fall, Nordquist also worked closely with the staff at Camp Tamarack and teachers within the school district to develop effective outdoor school curriculum and help balance the workload of outdoor camp between teachers and camp staff.

“In my previous experience with outdoor school in the Sisters School District, we had a wonderful team of teachers that spearheaded the outdoor camp every year,” said Nordquist. “But they were responsible for everything: fundraising, planning the curriculum, organizing the food, training counselors. Teachers were volunteering their time. It took an amazing amount of energy and sometimes discouraged participation.”

With a curriculum in place specifically for outdoor school excursions, experienced camp staff take over teaching lessons in the field and handle meals and logistics.

“Now teachers have supervisory responsibilities, but that’s it,” said Nordquist. This spring was the first year that almost every fifth-grader in Bend-La Pine Schools attended outdoor school at Camp Tamarack.

“For this program to be sustainable, it’s going to take the support of the district and community,” said Charlie Anderson, director and owner of Camp Tamarack. “Lora saw the value in the camp experience.”

When it came to budgeting for the year, Nordquist presented to the school board the value and importance of outdoor learning and why every student should be given the opportunity to participate. With support from District Superintendent Ron Wilkinson, Bend La-Pine Schools ultimately set aside an annual budget of $50,000 for experiential education.

The money earmarked for experiential, or “hands-on” learning, is not locked in to just outdoor school, Nordquist said. It could be used for some other kind of field study or experience, such as a trip to a fish hatchery or a day hike.

Nordquist grew up in a military family, frequently moving across the U.S. and attended 10 schools in 12 years of public education.

“Moving around like that is tough. I’ve always had high levels of empathy for kids who don’t fit in 100 percent because I know what it’s like to be an outsider,” she said.

Having experienced being the “new kid” many times over, and seeing first hand how an overnight camp can soften social barriers, Nordquist believes taking the classroom outside isn’t always about the nature aspect.

“There is the nature side and then there is the community side (of camp),” she said.

When kids share tents or cabins with other kids they don’t know very well, often they end up making new friends. As a large group, they eat “family style” meals together and share in the cleanup tasks as a team.

“Sometime over the course of camp, they build communities,” she said.

Nordquist attended an outdoor school last month and watched as several students, who had never had that kind of experience before, embraced the traditions and protocols that go along with an organized group camp.

“Their behavior was exemplary in every respect,” she said.

All students helped clean up and participated around the camp fire, and Nordquist said one student was so affected by the feeling of unity and eating meals as one big family that she asked her teacher, “Why can’t we do that everyday at school?”

Although Central Oregon is a nature lover’s playground, Nordquist said there are a lot of kids who don’t get very far from suburbia and don’t get the experience of a canoe ride or studying bugs near a river.

“Many factors can play into that,” Nordquist said, “Oftentimes, it’s a matter of money for low -income families. That’s why the funding is so important to me. We will not leave a kid behind, even if I have to write the check myself.”

Nordquist’s advocacy and love of nature extends beyond her professional career and is a central focus in her own family. She is a committed runner and says she will run year round in almost any kind of weather.

“It has to be horrible conditions for me to go to the gym to run. I will run with Yaktrax and a headlamp if I have to,” she said.

Her husband John, a home designer, is an ardent lover of the outdoors as well and together they stay active cross-country skiing, day hiking and backpacking.

“He taught me to downhill and cross-country ski. He planned all the camping trips and hikes and bought me my first backpack,” she said.

This month marks their 28th wedding anniversary. She has two grown children, son Evan, who lives in Los Angeles and a daughter Kate who was recently hired as a teacher for Bend-La Pine Schools.

Nordquist will continue to promote nature experiences for Central Oregon students and programs that get kids outside and active.

“We are educating thriving citizens, and in order to do that we need to focus on the mind, body and spirit. Nature restores the soul. If we don’t encourage that, we aren’t educating the whole child.”