I am back from
the camping trip with this ‘new’ class of nineteen students (one student sadly could not go), the assistant teacher who will be
the core teacher next year, the experiential education trip teacher, and one
other chaperone. We
camped, did chores, learned how farms become sustainable, heard coyotes in the
night, admired the moon and beautiful Mt. Sopris as we went to bed and rose
each morning, ate food that was prepared from the farm’s bounty, and used an
outhouse. Thursday night we had the pleasure of swimming in a nearby hot
springs pool, and Friday, on our way back to Denver, stopped to go ziplining
across the Colorado river. The only way
it could have been better was to have been longer.
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| a favorite chore-feeding the chickens, turkeys and ducks |
What are the things we value when we travel with our
students? Among those particular to the
setting described above, there is also
· Learning
one can manage without adult help to unpack and pack one’s clothes, set up a
tent with tent mates, arrange the tent so that each has comfortable and personal
space, awaken without waking others and without being crabby.
· Learning
about reflective listening to all group members when working in small groups
for common goals. Conversely, learning
about speaking up with a group so that personal ideas and opinions are heard.
· Meeting
time commitments without reminders.