The Principal Chronicles continue (Outdoor Ed edition).........Another year and another Outdoor Ed experience is in the books. This year's 6th-grade students are some of the best we have ever had here at Cherokee Trail. Their behavior and attitude were exceptional and even the Outdoor Ed staff complimented them.
When I arrived just before lunch (great timing by me by the way) the students were settled in on the patio waiting to go into lunch. In order to gain access to lunch, the students were competing with the main camp counselor. The counselor would pick one of three animals which he would then gesture with his arms (since you're reading this picture a grown man acting like an eagle, rabbit, or bear) the students all had to pick one of the three animals at the same time and had to be different than the counselor. If it was the same, the student would be out. The competition was fierce with arms and sound effects going wild. The food there is pretty good especially since the students are basically starving by the time they get to eat having been so busy during the day. For lunch they busted out Jambalaya. A bold move I thought for a bunch of 6th graders, but the kids plowed right through it.
From there the students went on to their activities. We walked around and visited with all of the different groups. Thank goodness the day was beautiful because that is a lot of walking. It is always really cool to see kids doing things they don't have an opportunity to do in a regular school setting. They were shooting arrows, making art out of nature, looking for organisms in a small stream, and trying to save a water balloon from being popped. It was awesome.
After dinner, it was time for the night hike. I usually love the night hike but it was a bit windy and this principal left his coat in the car so I had to suck it up and try not freeze to death. We walked around the campus, looked at stars, and played Marco Polo in the dark, which was scary but still fun. They were also pointing out stars with a laser that looks like a giant lightsaber. I think most kids were more hung up on the laser rather than the stars. At the very end of the hike, the counselor had the students lie down and look at the stars for 10 minutes in silence. As much as I think the kids enjoy being quiet, I think half of them fell asleep.
The next morning after breakfast it was time for my favorite part of Outdoor Ed, the high ropes. So basically it's like a giant jungle gym that the kids can climb but way off the ground. The kids love it and it is really neat for them to overcome their fears. The best part was after the kids were all done climbing, the teachers got a turn. Mrs. Duncan and Mrs. Tyler are very scared of heights but they still got up and climbed for their turn. Both were successful for the first time. I was very proud of them. Ms. Coggan apparently grew up in the trees as she had zero fear of anything and was all over the structure.
In the end, the teachers and students did such a good job. Such a good job in fact, that I didn't really have any crazy stories except for ortbot. So the staff at Outdoor Ed created this strange creature out of cardboard boxes. They called it ortbot and it told the kids (in a series of beeps kind of like BB8) about how much trash the kids threw away during meals. It was hard to keep a straight face when you know there is an adult inside a taped up cardboard box beeping to the kids and dancing around. I'm glad it wasn't me in that thing. I'd probably fall over and wouldn't be able to get up by myself.
Well that is it for this week, see you all at conferences next week. Until next time when the Principal Chronicles continue.....
NEW THIS WEEK: I will be hosting a weekly podcast called Staff Chat (available on CTE's YouTube channel - please subscribe and never miss any of the fun!). Each week I will have a short interview with one of our staff members. Please enjoy the first episode with Ahna Briese here!