Greetings
GreenMount Community,
This morning, our 7th and 8th
grade students and a group of very brave parents and teachers set off for their
four-day camping experience at the Jane’s Island campground in Crisfield,
Maryland. Each year that we have gone
there the students, parents and teachers have had a good experience and we
suspect, especially given the weather forecast, that the same will be true this
year.
At
The GreenMount School, we have a long tradition of exposing our students to
camping as a way to appreciate our natural surroundings and as a way to build
confidence in what might be a venue very foreign to many. In a way, we are teaching some important
survival skills by making our students responsible for most of the camping
experience. They will be establishing
their own campsite, cooking and cleaning up as well as organizing various
activities. The students also learn
interdependence as they participate in activities that require teamwork and
patience. Not unlike the 8th
graders’ trip to Costa Rica, the campers will come away from this experience
with new understandings about nature and our place in it. And yes, some students will definitely be in it as they wade through marshes and
perhaps find themselves on the wrong side of their canoe. Bugs, dirt, sand, water, sun and will all
leave their marks on our campers. And when they return on Friday we will all be
treated to the unmistakable aroma of campfires and a little good old
sweat. In this way, our students also learn
a little of what early settlers to the Eastern Shore had to learn in order to
establish those first settlements in Maryland.
Much of the land around Jane’s Island looks the same as it probably did
300 years ago. The wildlife has been depleted
since that time, but examples of most species still exist today. For our dreamers, they may close their eyes
and picture themselves in that time when the bay was clear and flora and fauna
undisturbed. They may listen to the
sound of geese or the distant screech of an eagle high above. The stars will be closer and the air cleaner,
transporting them back in time, until… “Hey, c’mon, we’re doing s’mores and
telling ghost stories!”
Last week’snewsletter included a flier for Hopkins
EpiCurious, which is a club of sorts
that is designed to expose students to adventures in culinary art. Students from Johns Hopkins University will
be coming to the school beginning tomorrow to work with students in grades 3-5
after school to learn about cooking and to actually explore some interesting
dishes that they can prepare. Check the
flier from last week for details.
Cheers,
Steve
