A lifelong love of the outdoors was the inspiration behind a unique wilderness survival course Barbara Chiles (BS ’70) developed and taught in a rural Illinois school district.

When administrators at the Westmer Community School District in Joy, Illinois, a small town about 20 miles south of the Quad-Cities, asked junior high teachers to develop exploratory courses, Chiles jumped at the chance to share her knowledge of nature she’d learned from years at summer camp.

“I just knew rural kids would love this,” said the now-retired physical education instructor. “There were no textbooks, so I had to design my own activities.”

Chiles put together a Wilderness Survival Learning Log designed to help her students learn a myriad of outdoor skills including first aid, water purification, knot tying, animal tracks, cold weather survival, and…edible plants and insects.

“I eat one first and nobody else has to, but once they see me do it they decide it can’t be that bad,” she said. “The kids learn many ways to survive—you never know when you might be stranded somewhere.”

In one of the most challenging course requirements, students had to start a fire three different ways. No matches allowed.

“They had to do it with a magnifying glass, a flint, and I gave them steel wool and batteries,” Chiles said. “If you want to teach a youngster patience—that will do it. It can take up to 40 minutes to get a fire going.”

Chiles said she was lucky that school administrators allowed her to be creative, but she also had to demonstrate that the course met the state’s goals for learning in physical education. Students sharpened their skills in reading and critical thinking, and activities in map reading and compass skills helped them learn mathematics, she said.

“I’ve always believed knowledge is power,” Chiles said. “You can learn in any situation, and that’s what we tried to teach our kids.”

Andy Siegfried, principal at Westmer Secondary School, said students and their parents were enthusiastic about the wilderness survival course.

“Most kids and parents tried to fit the class into their schedule,” Siegfried said. “They liked her no-nonsense approach and the real-life lessons she offered.”

During her 35 years in the Westmer district, Chiles taught at all levels. In the early ‘70s, she started girls’ athletics at the high school and coached basketball and volleyball. In 1980, Chiles achieved an Illinois public schools first when she became the first woman athletic director for boys and girls sports. She went on to receive a master’s degree from Western Illinois University.

The Illinois State Board of Education honored Chiles with a “Those Who Excel” merit award and a Distinguished Educator award for her wilderness survival course. She also received a Milken National Education Award for her inspiring classroom presence, exceptional educational talent, and professional leadership.

After retiring in May 2005, Chiles co-authored a book aimed at the 30 million baby boomers who grew up going to summer camp. Doodly Do It! True Confessions from Summer Camp includes tales of fun and mischief, and stories about kids growing up and learning about themselves.

Chiles says today’s kids are in the midst of a coddling crisis. “Today’s parents want to smooth out every bump in the road. So when kids aren’t allowed to fail, they don’t develop coping skills,” she said. “At camp where ‘no parents are allowed,’ kids stumble, kids fall, and they get back up and get back in the race. That’s life. That’s camp!”

Chiles, a third generation camper, adds, “Camp and nature have a way of bringing out the best in kids. Camp teaches them the skills necessary to rise to any occasion.” –by Joe Nugent