"IslandWood invites children and adults alike to discover a new way of seeing nature, themselves, and one another. In doing so, each person comes to understand their ability to change the world for the better."
I'm back from outdoor school with the 150 fourth and fifth graders. We all had a wonderful time. (Although I think I had the best!) This place was amazing. There were activities and field studies that encouraged exploration and understanding of nature and of our roles as stewards, and how to work together as a community.
A blindfolded night hike- listening, sensing, all the while trusting each other.
Wandering through woods, marsh, pond, and to the harbor.
PH experiments being conducted.
Team building activities, such as this one. Ten children had to get themselves from behind the sticks at the bottom to the platform, using the rope and without touching the ground. It took planning and cooperation, but they did it!
Group solo hikes (each child heading down the path three minutes apart, following instructions on cards on the ground to notice sounds, sites, smells, howling like a wolf, pondering a nature quote, etc.).
Harvesting vegetables from the garden and nettles from the woods.
Turning them into a delicious bowl of nettle soup for snack.
Djembe drumming. Talking of community and heart beat, and of believing in yourself when no one else does. It was here that one of my group, a girl that had plenty of attitude and grumpiness, completely let go, drumming wildly and smiling so wide.
The facilities were beautiful and so well thought out. Much of it was built from reclaimed lumber or fallen trees. This is the lobby of one of the lodges.
A corner of my room, on a floor with fifteen girls (which was so much fun for me, coming from my house of boys). We gathered in one room at bedtime, and I'd tell them stories- fairy tales, and silly stories from my childhood "How I Learned To Love Camping" and "Comeuppance at Disneyland". The "uncertainty" blanket came along, to stitch on during quiet hour and layered over "serenity" for sleeping. And, best of all, I had a bathroom to myself, for the first time in my life.
As we lined up to leave, two black-tailed deer began to run and cavort back and forth nearby, as if they had planned this farewell for us.
I do not have enough good things to say about this special place, and all that I think it meant to this group of children.