As the school year picks up speed, clubs are advancing in full force. With academic, to economic and leadership clubs, the Adventure Club expands the diversity by involving all sorts of outdoor activities like hiking, fishing, kayaking, and rock climbing. Teacher, Samantha Kaysinger, elaborates.

“This is the formative year, so there’s a lot of trial and error at first. Our intention is to set up once a month meetings to let students know a particular theme like what would you need to pack for a day hike, or what is a good idea for nutrition or outdoor ethics. Then, a couple weeks after our meeting, we have an outing in which we either go hiking or we go fishing or kayaking or ropes courses,” said Kaysinger.

Adventure Club not only provides a way of exercise, but it can help people connect more with the environment around them.

“We hope to achieve an appreciation for the outdoors. With students, we’ve seen this profound disconnect in recent years. People would rather be behind a screen or tending to live a more sedentary lifestyle and we’re so fortunate, there are so many places in even our local area in Missouri and in the U.S. that are just open for exploration and activities. I grew up near a river, but it wasn’t until I was in college, that kayaking and ropes courses they became a reality. [We’re] really hoping that in some way this will open up new avenues for students and open up a bigger picture realization that there’s more to do around here than…’there’s nothing to do in Rolla’, and we want to show students that there indeed is,” Kaysinger said.

While the club is mainly structured around the outdoors, the club accommodates student schedules.

“I would say even if you have a moderate level of interest, to just try it. One of the best aspects of this club is that we recognize that people have busy schedules inside and outside of schools, so this is not something meant to be cumbersome…and you don’t have to do every adventure every month. So if you’re not particularly fond of fishing, maybe you don’t want to partake that month, but you still want to be involved in some of the other events. So I would say definitely give it a shot and see what you think. Come prepared to have an open mind and to hopefully learn some things that maybe you haven’t thought of before in regards to outdoor adventures,” Kaysinger said.

Not only is it a great way to learn more about and experience outdoor adventures, but all it requires is a person willing to try it out.

“Another thing about this club, you don’t have to have anything special. You don’t have to have any special equipment other than your dues and t-shirts. I mean just show up and you can do it. That’s the wonderful thing about outdoors is it doesn’t require anything of you, a little bit of common sense and knowledge and preparation, but nothing special. My family, we’re all like hunter, fisher, on the river, outdoors…I kind of grew up that way, but I was more of the athletic and academic type. That was my focus, and I hated worms. I hated bating my hook. I refused to, and my dad got on to me once, and so that was like ‘Nope, I’m done,’ and when I was 16, to impress a boy, I picked up a fishing pole, and it wasn’t even bated, and I was just playing with it and I got a ticket for fishing without a license. And so I still didn’t fish, but when I met my husband, we have a pond and I just picked it up and I love it, I enjoy it and I don’t mind getting dirty,” Kaysinger said.

Furthermore for those interested or have never heard of this club, it is definitely worth a shot.