For over 20 years, 5th graders at Stevens Cooperative School, a PreK – 8th grade independent school, have enjoyed all that Stokes State Forest has to offer: the rolling Kittatinny Mountains, hiking trails blazed in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, old-growth Eastern Hemlocks, and the trout-filled Delaware River.
But nothing has been more beneficial to their outdoor education than the New Jersey School of Conservation, a 240-acre environmental education center within Stokes that has served as a temporary home for nearly half a million students since it was founded in 1949.
For students at Stevens, which has campuses in Hoboken and Jersey City – two of the most densely populated communities in New Jersey – trips to NJSOC have included everything from hiking, canoeing and fishing to metalsmithing, wildlife ecology and lessons on fighting the effects of climate change. On top of all that, NJSOC provides a meditative change of scenery.
So we were heartbroken when NJSOC, suffering under the economic weight of the coronavirus pandemic, was forced to close in 2021 when its funding stream ran dry. At a time when it was more important than ever to provide students with opportunities to get outside, NJSOC was no longer able to be there, not only for our students, but the rest of New Jersey, too.
When we heard NJSOC was attempting a comeback, our students were eager to help. Over the last two years, they were among those who pitched in to try and save the school, writing letters to elected officials about the importance of their trips there. In May, a nonprofit dedicated to saving NJSOC struck a deal with the state Department of Environmental Protection to sign a new lease on the land, reviving and preserving it for another two decades.
In late September, our 5th graders became the first group of students to return to NJSOC for an overnight trip since it closed. It was a joy to see them back in the friendly confines of the school, participating in team-building and nature-based activities that, hard as we might try, are simply impossible to replicate in urban settings like Hoboken and Jersey City.
At Stevens, we learn about the world by exploring it firsthand. Many of our trips, including those to U.S. cities that intertwine with our Social Studies curriculum, help our students build their knowledge of our human-built environments. However, it’s our overnight trips, like the 5th grade trip to NJSOC, that help our students expand their vision, deepen their understanding of themselves and others, and learn from the experience of being fully present in the natural world.
For students anywhere, but especially in a densely populated state like New Jersey, resources like NJSOC play an invaluable role in the development of young people. Without them, students would come to understand the world as a busy, fast-paced and primarily concrete place. For this reason and many others, we are so happy to see NJSOC back in action. We’ll certainly be back for many years to come.