BIG BAY -- It's a tradition going back almost 40 years, when Bothwell Middle School students take over Bay Cliff Health Camp to learn about science outside the classroom.  And this year's camp, which welcomed over 200 seventh graders, is getting off to a great start, despite the rain.

"It's been really fun, our counselors are really fun, and the food is really good here, and we have a lot of free time to play games with our friends...we see our friends all day," says Reilly Coombs, a Bothwell student.

Students are required to take a series of ecology classes, learning about subjects like the food chain and microbiology.

"We took water and we looked through it with a microscope, and there was weird stuff in there," says Ryan Fletcher, another Bothwell student.

But with all this work comes time to play.  Students can take courses in outdoor and alternative sports, like a canoeing course, where students learn what to do if their's flips over, or team building seminars.

But organizers say the part students seem to get the most out of is spending time with one another.

"The change that you see in the kids from when they start Monday to Friday is just unbelievable.  They get so close when we return to school a week from Monday; they love being together.  It's just a different feeling," says organizer Tamara Doney.

The students are together 24-7; they take all their daytime classes together and bunk together in cabins.

The students will stay at Bay Cliff until Friday, then they'll go home and spend Memorial Day weekend with their families.