Academics Outdoors: FAQs

Our Academics Outdoors Teacher Guides and Student Journals are TEKS-based and grade level specific for outdoor learning. They were written and developed by experts in curriculum and instruction in the state of Texas to maximize the time spent learning outdoors. The Student Journals go right along with the activities in the Teacher Guides to be a a place for students to record and provide evidence of their learning. 

Teachers in member districts and schools have year-long electronic access to all the Teacher Guides and Student Journals for every grade level. In addition, if they do choose to take students to camp, the per student fee is reduced from $16 to $12, or if they choose to just order printed materials, members also receive a discount.

Absolutely not! The purpose and intent of the Teacher Guides and Student Journals is to help teachers take students outside to learn  This can happen anywhere - the school yard, a local or state park, an outdoor learning center, or the Scout camps. We hope our Teacher Guides and Student Journals will be used often in a variety of locations. Printed Teacher Guides and Student Journals may be ordered in class sets (members - $3/student; non-members $5/student). Contact us to discuss bulk order as well. 

Camp Wisdom - 6400 W Red Bird Ln, Dallas TX 75236

Trevor Rees-Jones Scout Camp - 11217 FM2970, Athens, TX 75751; Look for the white rail fence! After entering the camp, go past the ranger’s house, through the inner gate, and the road will split; be sure to stay to the right and enter Camp Trevor Rees-Jones.  Camp Meisenbach is to the left, and it's very primitive and undeveloped.

Camp James Ray - 2026 Mill Creek Rd, Pottsboro, TX 75076

It depends on if you are in a member district/school, how many students and chaperones are attending, and if you purchase fee-based options or not. Each student and non-staff chaperone is $12 for members or $16 for non-members. You can select up to two included Scout Staff-led activities such as Fire Building, Survival Skills, or Team Building, and there are other options available that are fee-based. Our prices can be found on the "Camp Info" tab on our website (www.AcademicsOutdoors.com). 

No - you may request to book a day at camp on our website (www.AcademicsOutdoors.com) on the "Camp Info" tab whether you're an Academics Outdoors member or not. If you're not a member, your per student/chaperone rate will be $16 instead of the reduced member rate of $12 per student/chaperone.  Once you book a day at camp, you will be given temporary access to the Teacher Guides and Student Journals of only the grade(s) that are coming to camp in order to plan which activities you'll do at camp. Once at camp, each classroom teacher will be given a backpack with a printed copy of the Teacher Guide and Student Journal along with pens and all the other standard materials. 

If you're doing just the academics part that includes the camp grounds and covered pavilions, the camps can host quite a few students at once. Camp Wisdom can accommodate around 400 elementary students in the Cub Scout side of camp, and an additional 200 secondary students on the other side of camp. The TRJ Scout Camp can accommodate 300-400 students, and Camp James Ray can accommodate around 300.  If you're doing any Scout Staff-led activities, you'll need to consider the limits of how many can go through each activity in one day (see FAQs about Add-ons.) Generally, if you're doing any Scout Staff-led activity, only around 100 students per day (20 per rotation) will be able to participate in that activity if you're there long enough for 5 rotations, but the number is also determined by how long you'll be at camp. 

We recommend the groups be 20 or fewer students if you're doing Archery, Climbing, or Rappelling. Otherwise, they can be grouped by class with their teacher.

This is entirely up to the teachers or school leaders. Since this isn't a field trip, but rather using the camps as an outdoor classroom, the number of parents or volunteers present should be low. Each teacher might need a chaperone to help guide students from place to place or to help a student find the restroom, but we recommend limiting the number of chaperones to 1-2 per class.  Non-staff chaperones, such as parents, will be charged the same amount as each student. The chaperones should pay their fees to the school. Region 10 will bill the school for all the students and chaperones on one invoice after camp is over.

All teachers and administrators in  Academics Outdoors member schools/districts should be able to access the Teacher Guides and Student Journals from our website (www.AcademicsOutdoors.com). The teachers will decide which activities they'd like to do before arriving at camp and will also work together to determine a rotation through the Scout staff led activities if applicable.  Teachers should be with their students at all times and participate in the activities that are Scout Staff-led. Teachers should manage their students' behavior and actively lead them in all academic activities. 

If you work in an Academics Outdoors member district or charter school, you can go to our website, www.AcademicsOutdoors.com, and click on the "My Account" tab at the top. If you've never logged on before, click, "Lost my password," and it will send you an email to set your password if your email is in the system. (If you do not receive an email, email Holly  at HollyBishop@region10.org)  Once logged in, click the "Guides and Journals" tab at the top. This is where all the Teacher Guides and Student Journals are located. You should be able to access all the PDFs at this point. 

If you an not a member, you will be sent temporary access to the grade level Teacher Guide for the grade(s) who will be attending camp about two weeks prior to your visit. No other access will be granted.

Students should dress appropriately for the weather.  If the weather will be chilly, they should bring a jacket or coat. The students may like to wear a hat and/or sunglasses if it will be a sunny day. Pants are recommended due to the possibility of brushing against poison ivy, but many students wear shorts in warm weather and have no problems. 

Everyone  should wear comfortable running/tennis/sneaker style shoes, that can get dirty and they can run around in comfortably. There is lots of walking at camp, so comfort is key! 

Parents should apply sunscreen to the students prior to sending them to school, and spray students' legs and shoes with insect repellent if they'd like.  

Students should bring a refillable water bottle, a sack lunch (unless you've made other arrangements), and a snack.  

A week or two before coming to camp,  each classroom teacher who will be leading academic activities will receive a backpack filled with the materials they'll need at camp for the day . Each backpack will contain one printed Teacher Guide with a map of the camp and the appropriate number of Student Journals (English and Spanish versions for K-5)  and writing utensils based on the numbers teacher reported to R10.  Other materials provided in the backpacks are items specifically needed to conduct one or more of the activities in the Teacher Guide. The teacher can keep the backpack and all items it contains!

Every school is different, so it depends on how many rotations the teachers want to lead. Some schools do all Scout-led rotations, while others only do 2-3. This is entirely up to your teachers.  The number of rotations your students will do depends on how long you are at camp and how many groups/classes of students you have. Usually there are 4-5 rotations per day.  

One thing to consider is the size of your group. Some Scout Staff-led activities can only accommodate a limited number of students per day.  Activities such as  archery and rappelling can have about 100 students through in a day. Other activities such as Team Building, Fire Building, and Fishing are easier for scheduling larger groups than 100.   

The time the students aren't doing the Scout Staff-led activities will be spend on academics led by the teachers using the Teacher Guides and Student Journals. Some teachers love this, others do not. Please decide as a group how much time you want for teacher-led academic activities. 

You can have a great academic day at camp with no Scout Staff-led activities at all! You'll be exploring, doing teacher-led activities from the Teacher Guide, and providing free time for your students. 

Many of the Scout Staff-led activities require 2 Certified Safety Instructors provided by the camp to instruct each of the activities where safety is an issue. They pay the instructors each a daily rate which makes up the bulk of the cost. The remaining expense goes toward equipment maintenance, repair, and replacement. 

 When planning the trip to camp, the organizer can pick two basic Scout Staff-led activities that are included in the price. The choices include Fishing, Fire Building, Survival Skills, Team Building Bouldering (at TRJ), Air Rocket Launching (your students need to build these prior to coming to camp), Ecology, and Aquatic Sampling . Also included is the use of field sports equipment (including Gaga Ball, Human Foosball, the bouldering wall, and soccer field at Camp James Ray). Additional Scout Staff-led activities can be purchased for varying fees. See our Fee Chart for more details.

Yes - you'll see multiple Scout and/or Region 10 staff wearing bright blue shirts. They will greet you when you arrive to show the buses where to park,  give your students a safety talk,  and serve as ambassadors while you are at camp to help you find your way or answer any questions you may have. We also have walkie-talkies for teachers to be able to communicate with the director in the event of questions or an emergency. 

The camps all have good, flushable toilets with sinks; however expect a bit of a walk to get to them. We recommend everyone go to the restroom before you get on the bus so there isn't a huge number of people all trying to use the restroom at once.  Once teachers get started with their day, they can swing by the restrooms as needed with their classes.

Camp Wisdom - the main restrooms for students are right beside the Cub World Activity Center (CWAC) near Fort Farrington. There are restrooms on both sided of the building. There are also student restrooms inside the CWAC building and at the Trading Post Pavilion. There are many privative restrooms between campgrounds all around the camp as well. Adult restrooms are in the Dining Hall. 

Camp TRJ - The student restrooms are a far walk from where students exit the bus. There are two - one is up the hill beside the swimming pool (the building on the left of the pool). The other is on the other side of the Sports Field before you get to the Shooting Sports area. There are restroom stalls on both sides of each of these buildings. Students may also use the primitive restrooms scattered throughout camp in the camping areas.  Adult restrooms are in the Dining Hall and at Headquarters (students can use the restrooms at Headquarters in an emergency of course). 

Camp James Ray - The best restrooms for students are at the Aquatics Center. There are also some labeled for adults beside the Activity Center.  Many primitive restrooms can also be found at the camping sites. Adult restrooms are in the dining hall on the north eastside and by the Activity Center.

Yes - look in the first few pages of the Teacher Guide for the map as well as emergency phone numbers.

The camps are all outdoors in natural Texas settings. There is poison ivy.  The Teacher Guides have photos of poison ivy leaves. Teach your students what it looks like and remember the phrase, "Leaves of three, let it be!" The staff mow regularly and try to keep it out of the main camp areas, but it is a very common plant, and one your students can easily learn to leave alone.  

There are bugs, including mosquitos, ticks, chiggers, bees, and wasps. The grounds are mowed regularly, and there are lots of dirt paths to explore, so the bugs tend to not be a problem.  Some people like to spray bug repellent on their shoes and pants legs, but most do just fine without it. 

While there are snakes as well as coyotes, deer, foxes and other animals at camp, they are rarely seen by students due to the noise level created by humans.  

When you arrive, please place all containers that need to be transported to the lunch area outside the buses. The Scout staff will load them up and take them to your lunch destination and bring the empty boxes/coolers back to the buses for you. 

If you've rented the Dining Hall or Cub World Activity Center, you'll have lunch there. Otherwise, you'll be able to use a large, covered pavilion for lunch, or find a place you like for a picnic. Just be sure and leave no trace when it comes to trash! 

Lunch Pavilions at Each Location:

Camp James Ray - Activity Center Pavilion - directly behind the dining hall. Lots of tables and space to spread out. Seats around 100 at one time. 

Camp Wisdom - Trading Post Pavilion or Chief Haynes Pavilion depending on which side of camp your activities are on. The Trading Post pavilion can seat around 80 students at one time; about 50 can be seated at once at Chief Haynes Pavilion, but there is plenty of space in the field and nearby campsites as well.

Camp Trevor Rees-Jones - Pavilion directly behind the swimming pool up the hill behind the dining hall. This seats around 80 at one time.

If your group is larger than 80, you may need to set up lunch rotations or have teachers come and go as needed. We highly recommend renting the CWAC building for $100 at Camp Wisdom - it's indoors, with large garage doors on the sides for plenty of ventilation, and it can seat over two hundred people at one time. It is located by the main student restrooms behind the Fort. 

Equipment such as flashlights for the students to use at the cave at Camp Wisdom,  dip nets for the ponds, and butterfly nets will be placed in the area where they will be needed. The Scout ambassadors will be able to help you find the equipment if need be.  After using this equipment, please return it to the bin for other students to use.

You are free to explore and find spaces that fit your needs - that's part of the fun and experience! There are many camping areas at all the camps that are shaded and mowed for you to use. Each camp also has chapel areas, amphitheaters, and lots of covered pavilions. 

At Camp Wisdom, on the Cub side, we recommend Daniel Boone, Davey Crockett, Shuttleport, or Mikanakawa. On the Blue Gill Pond side of camp, we recommend Sam Houston, Eisenhower, McDonald, or Order of the Arrow Field.

At Camp Wisdom, there are amazing spaces for your students to explore in the Cub Scout area including the two ships, the castle, fort, and cave. At the TRJ Scout Camp, there are ponds, the bridge, you can say hello to the horses at the coral, and there are lots of areas in the piney woods. At Camp James Ray, the trails leading to the lake front are good places to explore.