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Photo by Nicole Inglis

Pete Bergmann, former Moffat County School District superintendent, shows a class of Ridgeview Elementary third-graders how certain kinds of rocks stick to your tongue.

Halite was 8-year-old Ashleigh Wheeler's favorite kind of mineral.

Former Moffat County School District superintendent Pete Bergmann had encouraged her to taste the clear, white stone to determine what kind of rock it was. If it tasted like salt, it was probably halite.

Bergmanm, a former earth science teacher who admitted to sleeping with rocks in his bed, displayed an infectious enthusiasm for teaching geology to a group of eager third-graders at their Outdoor Education class Friday at the Sherman Youth Camp.

"I like the salty one," Wheeler said. "Because it tastes good."

She proceeded to taste every other one of the rocks that Bergmann had given her to identify.

And she wasn't the only one.

All 20 kids in the group had taken to checking for halite in their own pile of rocks.

"OK, kids, now that you've tasted all the rocks, let's actually try to figure out what they are," Bergmann said.

The sun streamed through the yellowing aspens around the Sherman campsite, while 40 third-graders from Ridgeview Elementary moved from station to station learning about different outdoor subjects

Outdoor Education is a once-a-year field trip for Moffat County third-graders that has been going on for more than 20 years. Classes from each of the elementary schools will make the trip on different Fridays this fall.

Originally, it was an overnight trip in Grand Junction, but it has evolved into a day trip.

Besides Bergmann, five Bureau of Land Management firefighters helped show students fire safety and features of the bright yellow Craig Hotshots fire truck.

"I like it because we don't have to do paperwork," 8-year-old Michelle Shingleton said. "We get to do different activities and find rocks with different shapes and colors."

While many children were inspired by Bergmann to pick rocks up off the ground and compare them to their classmates', Michelle probably would have been collecting rocks despite the subject of the lesson.

"I've liked rocks since I was 3," she said. "My mom had to stop me collecting rocks because I always brought them into the house. I brought home four piles of rocks a day in my wagon."

On Friday, she only filled her pockets, then waited in line as Bergmann smashed the rocks, one by one, on an old stump to show the students what treasures could be found inside.

Trenton Ashton, 8, approached Bergmann with a volcanic rock the size of his head. He estimated it weighed about 100 pounds.

After Bergmann broke it into pieces, Ashton stuffed part of it into his cargo pocket and staggered away with his shorts sagging.

Bergmann's wife, Deb, a former third-grade teacher, laughed as Ashton walked away.

"I think we have a future geologist here," she said. "I mean, his pants might fall down, but he'll still be a geologist."

Third-grade teacher Roman Gutierrez manned the grill, cooking hot dogs and double-cheeseburgers for the students.

"They get to do some great activities," Gutierrez said. "They learn life-type skills, like the directions on a map. Unless they're planning on using MapQuest their whole lives, they're going to need to know compass directions. They get to see a different side of education.

"And it's one of their favorite things to talk about when they write letters at the end of the year to the second-graders."

During lunch, Michelle realized she left her water bottle by where Bergmann picked up his rocks and minerals.

She eyed each of the glittering pieces longingly but decided she should get back to lunch, which was being served in the pavilion, before moving on to the fire safety lesson.

"He's putting them away now, so I don't want to take anymore," she said. "I'll let the rocks go to sleep in their boxes."