These students are learning to respect their environment in ways they probably wouldn't have tried in school or at home. Normally, their childhoods can be so overloaded with video games, junk food and television, it's refreshing and unusual for them to find a place that brings them back to the basics of their surroundings, stimulates them through hands-on activities and teaches them to respect Mother Nature.

It's a place where it's OK for them to just be kids again, to get wet and dirty, to play games, to pet and feed Stormy the snake and take hikes—all without the supervision of their parents.

The Hard Core Apple Group is just one small aspect of Walden West Outdoor School. Tucked away off Sanborn Road in Saratoga, the school provides comprehensive science education for students throughout Santa Clara County from all different socioeconomic backgrounds.

"The program is an introduction to science for all fifth- and sixth-grade students," said Walden West Director Anita Parsons of Saratoga. And although Walden West is a school, Parsons said, it's not funded by the state like a traditional school would be. It's a field trip site. As a result, the school hasn't had a steady revenue stream for upgrades, and time has taken its toll on the facilities.

So the Walden West School Foundation started a $7.5 million capital campaign in January 2004 to ensure the future of the program, with more than just new buildings but also the ability to give children the resources they need to develop and hone their analytical young minds. The campaign is called the Walden West Science Learning Center Project.

"It's one of the few programs in the valley that touches all school-aged children," said Abby Sobrato, president of the Walden West School Foundation. "It's available to all kids, and I know that every single dollar they use out there goes directly to the program, which in today's age not all nonprofits can do."

The mind-altering experience also helps children develop deeper friendships with their classmates and teachers, as well as students from schools within the Silicon Valley. But it's a program principals and teachers choose to attend, rather than a program they are obligated to use. Parsons said many local residents might not be aware Walden West even exists.

During the school year, the 35-acre Saratoga site introduces about 8,000 middle school children from both public and private schools to life and earth sciences, giving them the opportunity to recycle in different ways, conserve water with two-minute showers and learn about environments such as chaparrals, meadows and forests in field classes.

"This experience is really good for the kids who don't learn well in a traditional classroom setting," Parsons said.

They check out the solar system with telescopes, sit around campfires, take day and night nature hikes, sing ecologically friendly songs, hang out in redwood groves, eat three balanced meals a day and spend a week away from their parents—some for the very first time.

"I live up here on Bear Creek Road, so I know a lot of this already," said Lakeside Elementary School fifth-grade camper Cole Gibson.

Lakeside teacher Heather Wingfield said since her students already live in a mountainous community, they are familiar with seeing deer and wildlife, unlike some of the campers from more suburban areas.

Kaley Korfike, also a Lakeside fifth-grader, said she learned bay laurel leaves can be used for cooking and medicine. But one aspect of nature Kaley wasn't used to seeing was a gopher snake dangling just inches above her head, held by field instructor Leigh Axelrod, whose camp name is "Rain."

The students watched Stormy devour a live feeder mouse, getting a firsthand perspective of how the food chain works. The children pulled out their disposable cameras, and the flashes went off one after the other, followed by cries of "Ewww!" from the girls and "That's awesome!" by the boys.

"I've never seen a snake eat a mouse, so I'm kinda sick to my stomach," said Lakeside sixth-grader Katie Stokes.

In summer months, children of all ages attend weeklong day camps at Walden West featuring hiking, swimming, arts and crafts, rope climbing, archery and more. The Saratoga site features a new solar panel energy system and swimming pool, thanks to generous donors. And during the summer, there are also opportunities for backpacking trips and leadership training programs.

Walden West, founded in 1950, was formerly called Redwood Glen and has been treasured by thousands of children, many of whom are now adults. The Redwood Glen campuses were once located in Aptos, Scotts Valley and Cupertino, but the program moved to its present Saratoga location in 1981, changing its name to Walden West in 1986, Parsons said. While the Santa Clara County Office of Education owns and operates today's Saratoga site, the program also uses another site, Camp Costanoan in Cupertino, to further extend the program.

The Saratoga campus, which can house up to about 170 students or about five classes, was formerly Valley Christian High School, but has been modified to accommodate the campers and staff. While some parents pay to send their children to the outdoor school, other children from low-income or poorly performing districts have to fundraise their way to Walden West.

The aging campus—used year-round and leased out to the community on weekends—is only able to serve one-third of the schools within Santa Clara County's Office of Education. The "temporary" dining hall and kitchen portable buildings, which are basically three trailers put together, continue to double as indoor teaching facilities when rainy weather prevents outdoor activities.

"We built the dining hall as a temporary building over 20 years ago," Parsons said. "It was intended to last five years."

The floor of the trailer is rotting and the building is overcrowded. It also doesn't help that Walden West gets about 45 inches of rain a year, Parsons said, more than anywhere else in the county.

Some of the sagging cabins, which were formerly classrooms when the program was known as Redwood Glen, can't be used because they sit directly on the San Andreas fault line. They have been converted into storage units because they're not compliant with building codes. Patching, painting and covering up facility flaws can only be done to an extent, Parsons said.

"The foundation realized our facilities are old and needed to be fixed," Parsons said.

Funding from donors to the capital campaign will provide a new 9,000-square-foot multipurpose and energy-efficient lodge that will be able to accommodate small and large groups alike. The structure will be situated at the center's main entrance, next to the current administrative office building, which was once used as a airplane hangar in the 1950s.

The renovated lodge will also house an amphitheater, workstations, conference room and lobby. There will be a new dining room and kitchen to serve meals to campers and continue to teach them about waste conservation. At the end of every week, students actually weigh their waste, aiming to have the least amount possible to enter the "No Waste Hall of Fame."

In addition, there will be a new science discovery center for day or weeklong usage with fully equipped laboratories for experiments and discovery. Hitachi has already donated $250,000 to help fund these laboratories.

Parsons said new, more earthquake-safe cabins to house campers and cabin leaders will be built, featuring internal showers and bathrooms. Some of the boys' cabins have already been constructed, alleviating the need for the campers to have to trek across campus just to wash their hands. An ecological and nature center as well as a garden have already been added to the grounds due to the generosity of the San Jose Sharks Foundation, for students to prepare, plant and harvest organic foods.

So far, additional generous donors have included Flextronics International, Applied Materials Foundation, The Valley Foundation, San Jose Water Company and Devcon Construction Inc., to name a few. Individual contributors, among a long list of sponsors, include John and Abby Sobrato, who pledged $1 million in matching funds, Rich and Kristi Saso, who gave $50,000, and Linda and Howard Graham, who donated $100,000.

While Parsons said they hope to have the entire project completed by 2008, it may be finished much sooner. There are matching and naming opportunities available, Parsons said, and $3.7 million of the total amount has already been raised, with $2 million of it coming from the Santa Clara County Office of Education.

Abby highlighted how today's classroom teachers are not equipped to teach science the way it should be taught, and they don't have enough time to devote to science because they are required to teach basic requirements such as reading, writing and mathematics. Science education is suffering in many schools within the county due to budget cutbacks.

"In the heart of the Silicon Valley, it's a tragedy that our science is lacking," Abby said.

But with the renovated discovery center, teachers will be able to bring their students to Walden West for single, day-use trips, she said. In addition to her family's donation, Abby has an even more personal connection to the program because she attended Redwood Glen in the 1970s as a child, as did her own children.

"With the financial support of Walden West, we'll be able to create a richer science experience for every kid in the county. It's hard to find places to take kids like that," she said. "The need for a Walden West is far greater than it was when I was in school. Just the understanding of our world is very different than it was back then."

Kathleen King, vice mayor of Saratoga, is also a proponent of the Walden West program, calling it "a hidden treasure." King said she wished more Saratoga students were able to take advantage of the program, but suggested Saratoga parents might think the program is "too close to home" or may not know it exists. King said the Walden West School Foundation is important in making the program more visible and raising interest and community support.

"It's such an incredible program. I grew up in this valley, as did Abby. I was a counselor at Redwood Glen," said Kristi Saso, vice president of the foundation. "It's one of those experiences that has stayed with me my entire life. If you grew up in this valley, it's more than likely that it was a part of your life at some time."

Kristi also credited Parsons along with all the counselors and high school cabin leaders for their dedication to the program, especially since they aren't paid "oodles of money" to do their jobs. Much of the staff, including the cabin leaders, is volunteer.

When fifth- and sixth-graders in a combination class from Lakeside Elementary School in Los Gatos visited Walden West for a week at the end of September, Lakeside teacher Wingfield said her students took away much more from the science program than they would have in her "four-walled classroom." They explored through hands-on discovery how trees grow and studied animal adaptation and life cycles.

Fifth-grader Alexandra Zvargulis learned that redwood trees have more resistance to fires than other trees because of their bark. As a result of visiting Walden West, Alexandra said she's going to limit her showers at home and won't keep the water running while she brushes her teeth.

"When I grow up, I'm going to get one of those solar-powered cars, which doesn't pollute the air," Alexandra said.

Wingfield's class, which comes from a small, one-school district, was separated into different groups, intermixing with other students from Los Altos who were visiting Walden West the same week.

"It really gets them away from their cliques, and they start talking, and sharing and working in different groups," Wingfield said.

Field instructors like "Squirrel," whose real name is Todd Martines, and "Bat," also known as Robb Stolberg, a 1991 Los Gatos High graduate, taught the students about phototropism and moss growth. While the messages the field instructors taught were no doubt educational, there was plenty of fun, games and laughter had by all. They investigated pond creatures with "Rain" and developed cabin skits and cheers.

"I think the hands-on approach to education is what gives meaning to their learning," said Joyce Salisbury, principal of Lakeside Elementary and superintendent of the Lakeside Joint School District. "When they are able to experience science in an environment that is true, they remember it and apply it."

For more information about Walden West Outdoor School or the Walden West Science Learning Center Project or to contribute financially to the campaign, contact Anita Parsons at 408.867.5950.