On the morning of Halloween, seventh grade students from Riverside Junior High gathered their backpacks and sleeping bags to be loaded on busses for a two hour journey bound for YMCA Camp, Camp Tecumseh. These students were accompanied by Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern high school students throughout their extended field trip to help with supervision, lesson plans and their overall experience.

Students from these high schools apply about a month in advance and attend meetings to become prepared for the three day field trip.

“I like the experience of helping the kids out, having fun and getting them to learn,” counselor sophomore Cameron Graves said. “Seventh graders look up to high school students, they need that good example that the teachers just can’t provide. It’s also a great leadership experience for us.”

During these seventh graders’ stay they are expected to complete a booklet of activities centered on an arrangement of math, science, social studies and English. High school students, or counselors, lead them through these activities and grade them.

Nearing the end of everyone’s stay counselors perform skits, which have become tradition over the decades of school camp visits since the 1980s. These skits are subject to minor changes every year for a slight twist in plot or new joke.

Counselors also lead students through the forests of camp all while pointing out different plants and animals. They also make certain that they’re all in time for meals and scheduled events such as archery lessons. Most importantly, counselors get the students boarded on their busses in time for dinner on their last day.