BY DAN HILDEBRAN
General manager
KEYSTONE HEIGHTS— The Alachua County School District invited the public to celebrate the 75th anniversary of its student camp on the shores of Crystal Lake.
The Nov. 18 event was the first of two dates the district planned to offer archery, arts and crafts, hayrides, and a ropes course.
Although many school districts throughout the nation rent camp facilities, the Alachua district is one of the few that owns its camp.
The facility’s former director, Scott Burton, told the Keystone Heights Rotary Club during a 2020 appearance that the district acquired the land for the camp under the guidance of Superintendent Howard W. Bishop in the 1940s.
“In 1947, Camp Crystal Lake was part of the Keystone Heights Air Base, which was owned by the United States Department of Defense after World War II,” he said. “The War Assets Administration was given the authority to sell federal lands and property that were not essential to our nation’s defense. Thus, in 1947, the 151 acres and 28 existing buildings that became Camp Crystal Lake were put on the market for $17,500.”
Burton said that at the same time, the Florida Legislature passed the Omnibus School Bill, which expanded the scope of public education beyond the Three R’s and enabled school districts to spend state and local taxes on a wider variety of programs.
Burton said Bishop initially encountered two obstacles in acquiring the camp. The first was the purchase price. The second was the constitutionality of a school district owning property outside its jurisdiction.
Camp Crystal Lake is located across Airport Road from the Keystone Heights Airport. Its 151 acres are within Bradford County.
“Fortunately, the War Assets Administration was able to offer a 95% discount on the purchase price because of the future camp’s status as a necessary adjunct to the educational program of Alachua County,’” Burton said. “This designation dropped the purchase price to less than $1,000.”
Burton said a court ruling was needed to overcome the second obstacle.
“In June of 1948, the Florida Supreme Court ruled in favor of Alachua County, and in the fall of 1948, Camp Crystal Lake became part of the public school system for less than $1,000,” he said. “The quote that came out of that Supreme Court trial was that education has no boundaries. That’s kind of the phrase that we’ve used since then.”
Throughout the school year, the camp receives students from grades 2-5 for lessons on science, the environment, and team building. Camp Crystal Lake is open in summer with a traditional camp experience, serving about 1,000 children in grades 2-9.
A better version of themselves
Burton said the camp fills an educational need in students that the classroom cannot provide.
“What we’re seeing is we’ve got a generation of kids that’s been raised with very little coping skills and very little social skills,” he said. “Those are the two main things that we can teach at camp. We can teach kids how to deal with tough situations.”
“A lot of these kids have never been outside the city,” he added. “They’ve never been on a lake. They’ve never spent a night (away from their families). They’ve never made a S’more.”
Burton said that the student who struggles academically in the classroom usually thrives at camp.
He said camp allows these children to gain confidence and build positive relationships with their classmates.
He also said that, especially during the fifth-grade, three-day camps, he sees a lot of personal growth in the adults who attend.
“If we do this right,” he said, “if we connect with people, we can help them to become a better version of themselves.”
The camp will repeat the Nov. 18 open house on Dec. 9 from 12:30 to 5:30.
