Scully is the faculty adviser for Take It For Granite, an outdoor adventure club he started with Pioneer senior Mike Masten. Both Scully and Masten are avid sportsmen who say the club offers them a chance to share their love of the outdoors with high school students who might not otherwise leave city limits.

"Everyone is stuck in the city, and no one gets to go outside," Masten says. "A lot of these kids haven't had the chance to go out and do the things Mr. Scully and I have done."

"Mike and I would probably be doing more challenging things, but it's so rewarding to see kids do things for the first time," Scully says.

Masten says his role is more of a helper to fellow students who, unlike him, have little or no experience in the great outdoors. On the rock-climbing trip, he belayed the other students. When the club went mountain biking, he brought up the rear to keep an eye on the less-experienced riders.

"I make sure everyone else has a good time," Masten says.

Showing others a good time has had its rewards. Masten says a student who went hiking with the club at Coyote Creek told him afterward that he couldn't think of a better way to have celebrated his birthday. The young man had never been to the San Jose park before.

"Five minutes down the road, you've got a park you can hike through, and kids don't know it's there," Masten says. "I think that's what this club is about."

Take It For Granite has about 50 members, although turnout for the actual events is much smaller. "It's always a new crowd," Masten says of the students who participate. "Mostly girls signed up [for the club], and mostly girls go to the meetings," but they don't go to the events.

Students don't have to join the club to go on one of its outdoor excursions, which Scully says opens the door for more broad-based participation. "This is the kind of thing you'd expect to have to qualify for," adds the teacher. "That anyone can do it is great. Students love it."

Some students might have a problem making room in their busy schedules and tight budgets for a Take It For Granite outing. Most of the events are held on Saturdays. The club has gone rock climbing and hiking after school on Fridays.

Club events are also open to Pioneer faculty and parents. Scully says at least one other adult accompanies the group on its trips. "It's nice to have the opportunity for [Pioneer] staff," he adds. "It's a great opportunity to get to know students in a different way."

Masten says, there's a student who's willing to take over the club's reins at Pioneer after he graduates. And Scully plans to continue as faculty adviser.

"It's a great opportunity to get to know students in a different way," says the teacher. "Sometimes you make connections with kids in class, but it takes a long time. When you're outside, it happens instantly. All it takes is them being there."