Camp Barnhardt plays host for students in Learning For Life activities

A.L. Brown High School student Chantez Leach gets a ride on Cody with the help of teacher assistant Chip English (right) and Beth Schenck from Happy Valley Farms in Woodleaf. Riding horses was one of the many activities at John J. Barnhardt Boy Scout Camp for the annual Learning for Life programs. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

A group of students from Salisbury High School gets strapped into the Rowan County Rescue Squad boat at Badin Lake next to the John J. Barnhardt Boy Scout Camp for the annual Learning for Life programs. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

Johnny Weddington, with the Rowan County Rescue Squad, drives the airboat around Badin Lake next to the John J. Barnhardt Boy Scout Camp for the annual Learning for Life programs. The students from Salisbury High School take their turn riding on the boat. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

A large group of students from East Middle School from Biscoe get a chance to pan for gold in a portable sluice at the Learning for Life Day progam at Camp Barnhardt. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

Anthony Kight, from Salisbury High School, makes a cast into Badin Lake with the help of Jerry Burris at John J. Barnhardt Boy Scout Camp for the annual Learning for Life programs. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009 3:06 AM |

By Steve Huffman

shuffman@salisburypost.com

NEW LONDON — Rain put a damper on turnout, but several hundred students still visited Camp Barnhardt Wednesday for a field day at the Boy Scout facility.

"The good news is, because attendance was down, it gave kids who came the opportunity to do everything," said Jim Sawyer, district executive for the Central N.C. Council, BSA.

Participants were students enrolled in Learning For Life, a curriculum program offered to select students in area school systems. They range in grade-level from kindergarten through high school

Many of the students are in special-education classes, though at some schools, entire grade levels are enrolled in Learning For Life.

At Camp Barnhardt, activities in which students participated included 10 stations — ranging from shooting BB guns to taking part in hayrides, from cooking over an open fire to a ride on a high-speed boat supplied by the Rowan Rescue Squad. Also included were archery lessons and instructions on how to read a compass.

Bob Pendergrass, superintendent of the Rowan Nature & Learning Center at Dan Nicholas Park, brought a hawk to Wednesday's field day and told students about the bird.

"We try to give the kids a Scout-like experience so they can have a taste of camp life," Sawyer said.

Another field day for more Learning For Life participants will be held next Wednesday. From Rowan County, students from Millbridge Elementary, Erwin Middle, Carson High and Salisbury High schools registered for either this week's or next week's field day.

Sawyer said students from 12 schools were registered to participate in the field days. In addition to Rowan, students come from Stanly, Montgomery, Richmond, Anson and Union counties, all served by the Central N.C. Council, BSA.

Camp Barnhardt is 1,100 acres and was constructed by volunteers in the 1960s. Though the camp is used primarily by Central N.C. Council troops, it's also open to other s like participants in the Learning For Life curriculum.

The Central N.C. Council, BSA, is a United Way Agency supported by the Rowan County United Way and many friends of scouting.