Lake Washington middle school united by common purpose: adventure

Call them a bunch of tree-huggers if you want. The students at Lake Washington's Environmental & Adventure School are used to it.

But the alternative middle school, which posts some of the best standardized test scores in the state, is about a lot more than camping trips on the coast, identifying birds in the parks or studying the life cycle of salmon — although all those things can be part of the experience, too.

It's also about learning how to be the leader in a group of your peers, getting to know every one of your classmates like they were your best friends, and doing your best work on every school assignment, students say.

The small Juanita-area school, nicknamed EAS, celebrated its 10th anniversary Friday. Nearly 400 people — many of them graduates — came by to see old friends and teachers, and reminisce about the adventures they had as students.

Like Susan Good, a sophomore at Western Washington University, who said she was a "very timid, painfully inept little blond girl" when she started there in sixth grade.

"The family atmosphere really brought me out and taught me the value of public speaking," said Good, who is majoring in design at Western and now counts public speaking as one of her strengths.

Or Jake Galloway, a junior at Pacific Lutheran University, whose love for travel was fostered by a summer trip to Costa Rica organized by one of the school's teachers. Galloway just returned from studying for five months in Ghana, and wants to join the Peace Corps when he graduates from college.

The concept for the school was dreamed up by Eileen McMackin, who is now the school's lead teacher. Eleven years ago, while working in the district's central office, she began thinking about what a good time her own children had in summer camp, making close friends and feeling united by a bond of purpose and community. Why couldn't school be like that?

On a whim, she brought her idea to then-superintendent Ron Barnes, who was soliciting ideas for the creation of new schools. To her surprise, Barnes gave her the go-ahead to form a new school.

At EAS, students spend three weeks each school year camping or going on adventures. The teens and their teachers quickly get to know each other very well. "This takes the cracks that people can fall through, and just closes them up," said teacher Brian Healy.

The school's environment also helps break down the tendency to avoid standing out for being too bright. At EAS, "it's cool to be smart," Healy said.

By the time they graduate, students have also done more than 190 hours of community service or environmental stewardship, which gives them a sense of purpose and self-worth, McMackin said.

Pat Fayerweather and Kim Yoshida say they're lucky their high-energy son, Sam, got into EAS. "The projects they do here are pretty rigorous," Fayerweather said. "It's prepared him really well for high school."

And then there are the adventures. No one forgets the hike down into the Grand Canyon in March, when the temperature dipped to 5 degrees overnight and all the breakfast food froze. Or the camping trip to the Washington coast, when it dumped buckets every day and a trail the students had intended to hike was washed away by a landslide.

McMackin says it costs more to educate students at EAS than at other schools, but the district funds the school at the same rate. The staff is constantly writing grant applications and looking for ways to raise money. Parents are asked to donate $200 at the start of the school year. Scholarships are available for those who don't have the money.

And the school is very frugal, especially when traveling, McMackin said. When they went to Hawaii, for example, the parents shopped for food at a Hawaiian Costco; a week's worth of food totaled $30 per student. As with most trips, the kids spent the week sleeping in tents.

"The power of taking kids out on trips like that — it helps them learn who they are, and what they're capable of," McMackin said. "They're ready and willing to do good work."

Katherine Long: 206-464-2219 or klong@seattletimes.com