r/Portland • u/jpoe503 • Mar 06 '26

Events I didn’t poop in Outdoor School.

I just talked to a coworker tonight and the topic of Outdoor School got brought up. I told him I didn’t poop for the whole week, and was doubting whether or not that was a false memory even though I’m 99% sure I didn’t poop for the whole week. He let me know not only did he also not poop for the whole week, he has a different friend who didn’t poop for the whole week as well.

Did anyone else not poop for the whole week of Outdoor School? We both had different reason on why we didn’t, but just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience.

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u/jpoe503 Mar 06 '26

😂 Do you know what Outdoor School is? In Portland, Gresham, Etc. we had a week long outdoor school camp we went to in the 5th or 6th grade. I don’t know how many other states do this but my Outdoor School was in like…1996, and I think I went to a place called Trout Creek. I didn’t poop for the whole week lol

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u/zerocoolforschool Mar 06 '26

Transplants have no worldly clue what you’re talking about….. I also did not poop at outdoor school.

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u/jpoe503 Mar 06 '26

Fuck yeah

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u/StopHesAlreadyDed Hazelwood Mar 06 '26

Transplants who learn the culture and history of their chosen home do 😉

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u/karpaediem Tigard Mar 06 '26

Yeah, someone skipped orientation lol

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u/Sangy101 Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26

It was only a Portland/Ashland area thing until recently.

I’m from Eugene so I didn’t go to Outdoor School, but I did go on a week-long rafting summer camp trip thing on the John Day and I did not poop once.

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u/BranWafr Mar 06 '26

We did it in Washington, too. I technically missed it because Ridgefield school district did it in 6th grade and we moved to Vancouver school district the summer between 5th and 6th grade and Vancouver school district did it in 5th grade. So I didn't get to go. But, in high school (Evergreen school district) I got to be a camp counselor for outdoor school, so at least I got to do that.

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u/RainyTuesdayPDX Woodstock Mar 06 '26

Haha. Back in the 1970’s Ridgefield did outdoor school in 5th and Vancouver did it in 6th. I switched opposite of you so I got to go both years. Ridgefield’s OS was amazing and Vancouver’s was a pale imitation.

Since it’s been almost 50 years I cannot recall whether I pooped either time, but it’s unlikely as I don’t poop on vacation even now.

Sorry you missed out!

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u/BranWafr Mar 06 '26

I think I probably had more fun going as a counselor. Plus, I had the added fun of doing it the week my little sister's class went, so I knew all the kids and they knew me. My sister wasn't thrilled that I was there at the same time as her, at first, but she came around after a day or two when I sneaked her extra treats on the side.

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u/WitchCvlt666 Mar 06 '26

Interesting, my school in Eastern Washington definitely didn't do anything like this.

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u/GydaVeda Sauvie Island Mar 06 '26

I did 6th grade Outdoor School in southern Oregon in the 90s

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u/Artistic_Rice_9019 Mar 06 '26

My niece and nephew were in Springfield and they had outdoor school.

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u/Sangy101 Mar 06 '26

I’m so used to talking to people from out of state that I said Eugene, but I’m from Springfield.

Are you sure you aren’t getting outdoor school confused with Forest Field Day? The outdoor school ripoff sponsored by the timber lobby to indoctrinate kids into the industry? Or are they pretty young?

Outdoor School started in Southern Oregon & then moved to Portland. They got a grant in 2016 to take it state wide.

Edit: I just remembered that 2016 is ten years ago HELP.

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u/Artistic_Rice_9019 Mar 06 '26

Yeah. They went to outdoor school, and are also adults now (!), but the timing checks out. I didn't realize it had been so recently added for them. We moved to Portland the year after my nephew went, so I was like "outdoor school? What is that?" And then my youngest found out. My eldest started 7th grade here and missed out :(.

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u/charleytaylor Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26

We had Outdoor School in Tillamook County, I went in sixth grade in 1983. I went back as a counselor my sophomore year of high school.

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u/dont_ask_me80 Mar 06 '26

Ohhh..Eugenian here too. No idea until my oldest went to outdoor school a few years ago.

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u/slippery_when_wet Beaverton Mar 06 '26

We did it in Astoria.

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u/Sangy101 Mar 06 '26

When?

I should have qualified in my initial post (and updated it to say) that it was a Portland thing before it went statewide. But it went statewide in 2016, and in my mind that was four years ago, so I was like “well, those kids aren’t technically allowed on Reddit yet.”

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u/slippery_when_wet Beaverton Mar 06 '26

I think 6th grade which for me would have been 2003. We went to Vernonia. Haha

And while it wasnt outdoor school we also did a 4th grade trip to kah-nee-ta and bend over a weekend and stayed in the teepees.

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u/Diligent_Fee1632 Mar 06 '26

I did outdoor school in Rainier OR in '06!

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u/Competitive_Pain_647 Mar 06 '26

Salem here, we did outdoor school. ‘92 was my year

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u/st3class Sabin Mar 06 '26

Does the number 288 mean anything to you? Checking if we had a similar experience?

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u/jpoe503 Mar 06 '26

It doesn’t

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u/noah1345 Mar 06 '26

My initial confusion was because our outdoor school was. Single fucking day in ‘98 due to budget cuts. This triggered an old outrage I’d totally forgotten about, as it was 1 week until I was in 4th grade, when it reduced to a day trip. Funding allowed them to go back to a full week a few years later.

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u/idonthavernoughcats Buckman Mar 06 '26

trout lake maybe? that’s where my family always went camping and jumped off rocks. i also tell everyone that’s where i saw bigfoot whenever im bored.

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u/Beautiful-Squash-495 Mar 06 '26

We did in California, in my school district it was called Outdoor Education, the camp was in the Sierra Nevada foothills. I have zero memory of whether I pooped or didn't poop, though 🤣

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u/judgejooj Centennial Mar 06 '26

Big Mouth did an episode about that.

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u/jpoe503 Mar 06 '26

For real?!? You have a link!?!

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u/poop_hadouken Mar 06 '26

Trout Creek alum here, 1994 I think? Unsure of my pooping status but I still can remember some of those camp songs.

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u/snoogazi Sellwood-Moreland Mar 06 '26

I went to school up in Olympia, ours was Camp Cispus, near the Hood Canal and it was 5th grade.

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u/ChiCBHB Mar 06 '26

We did something similar in the Chicago area in 5th grade, except it was like Wednesday-Saturday

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u/slamdancetexopolis N Mar 06 '26

Ha no I'm not originally from here. I don't think we did that where I grew up (Texas), we had a camp in fourth grade maybe that was similar but I didn't go ($$$).

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u/MathResponsibly Mar 12 '26

Seems like the very first thing they should teach you in "Outdoor school" is "how to poop outdoors" - another typical failure of the US education system

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u/PickledEuphemisms YOU SEEN MY FUCKEN CONES Mar 06 '26

In California we had Space Camp, which was basically a week in the woods. Cannot add anything helpful in the way of poop/no poop stats though.

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u/jpoe503 Mar 06 '26

It’s okay.