Off the Beaten Path

Shumla School: Comstock, Val Verde County

By Carol Schlenk
tbhstaff@www.texasbeyondhistory.net
Education Editor, Texas Beyond History

The Social Studies TEXAN, Vol. 21, No. 2, Fall/Winter 2005, p. 23
Reprinted with permission of The Social Studies TEXAN

The Shumla School's mission is to provide education through Studying Human Use of Materials, Land, and Art.  The cornerstone of the program's philosophy is the study of human survival, using the Lower Pecos River region of Texas as an example.  Combined with hands-on learning, people discover the flexibility, ingenuity, and teamwork that their predecessors brought to the problem of survival in a challenging environment.

This experiential education center is situated along the Pecos River 50 miles west of Del Rio in Val Verde County.  The location makes this site well suited for instruction and innovative studies in archeology, ecology, natural history, Native American lifeways, and art.

The major activities of Shumla School include education and research.  Youth and adult education programs are offered where a learning-by-doing philosophy prevails.

Pecos River Kids — These programs engage students' hands and minds through real-world investigations that are inquiry-based, interdisciplinary, and supportive of a standards-based curriculum.  Environmental and cultural education will tie in such topics as history, geography, archeology, cultural anthropology, mapping, geology, biology, chemistry, ecology, and astronomy.  This program builds:

• Awareness. Hands-on experiences are the best way for students to build understanding of the complex world around them and their place in it.
  
  
• Knowledge and Skills. Pecos River Kids interdisciplinary educational programs complement and enhance school curricula.
  
  
• Critical Thinking. PRK enhance critical thinking skills by (1) providing topics and problems that cut across the school curriculum and enhance the integration of knowledge, (2) providing real-world problems that can be studied or simulated at our facility, (3) providing topics and problems that can be adjusted to the developmental needs of the students.
  
  
• Responsible Behavior. PRK programs help students become a valuable resource in their community and better stewards of their environment and historical/cultural resources.