Thirty-one Tulsa Adventist Academy (TAA) high school students and several staff members spent five days camping at Beavers Bend State Park during the school’s annual High School Challenge in late August.
The annual experience gave students opportunities to build friendships with new classmates and others with whom they do not usually spend time.
“The best part is getting to know each other better,” one sophomore said.
Despite hot, muggy weather and daily temperatures reaching 100 degrees, the Mountain Fork River provided a tranquil setting. A smooth river reflecting the full moon flowed beside the school’s tents, with patches of mini-rapids coursing over shale and birds soaring above the cliffs.
The campout featured hiking, swimming, canoeing, paddle boating, kayaking, tubing, horseback riding, and an ice cream outing in Broken Bow. Students and staff also cooked and cleaned together, preparing meals such as chilaquiles, pancakes, and fettuccine Alfredo between activities.
Students were good sports despite the heat, gushing that “horseback riding was fun,” “kayaking was the best,” and “making meals together made me happy.” The group also visited the state park’s nature center—snakes included—and took a guided tour of the park’s museum to learn about the area’s history. Raccoons, armadillos, and woodpeckers frolicked through the campsite, but the group quickly learned how to banish them.
The planned community service project was clearing hiking trails, but the work was cut short when the trails closed because too many hikers required rescue for heat-related injuries. Instead, students picked up trash from a large campsite.
TAA’s first chaplain, Gabriel Hernandez, known to students as Pastor Gab, led worship around the school theme, “Rooted.” Students participated through prayer, music, and impromptu testimonies about times they had felt God’s presence, even in the depths of despair.
On Sabbath morning, the group worshipped with the Antlers Seventh-day Adventist Church, where TAA students led the entire service. Hernandez spoke about Job, and the congregation provided a homemade lunch after the service.
Ultimately, a successful campout means students are inspired by each other, creation, their teachers, and, most of all, by spending time without electronics and more time with God. The campout reflects TAA’s core beliefs that we are family and disciples of Christ. The experience also fulfills our mission to prepare students for heaven and earth as we work through social, emotional, spiritual, and team-building issues away from the daily routine.
