by Mrs. Emily Cullen, Arts Teacher & High School Academic Advisor
Our ninth grade ventured into the brisk rainy weather this week on their epic backpacking trip as part of their Environmental Studies class. The trip started with a visit to Indian Echo Caverns in Hummelstown, PA, and waterfalls in Catoctin State Park, in Maryland, camping in a campground nearby. The class then hiked 24 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Maryland over the course of four days, camping near the shelters, carrying all of their food, gear and personal equipment for four days. Wow!
Trip Log:
DAY 1:
It is a cold drizzly day. The 9th grade is anticipating the long-held tradition of hiking a 24 mile portion of the Appalachian trail over the next five days. Mr. Dan Smith (who will be bringing them Geology) and I are going along for guidance and support. However, there is a feeling of apprehension in the air as the weather that lies ahead looks to be the coldest, most windy and rainy that it has been on this trip for more than 7 years… perhaps longer. They have been well prepared by their teacher and Outdoor Program leader, Jake Strevig. No matter the weather, Mr. Strevig simultaneously models how to be rationally grounded and buoyantly optimistic. “We may not have everything,” he says as we begin our trip, “but we’ve got a lot, and for the rest, we can help each other out.”
DAY 2:
It is a very cold morning. My water has frozen. I awake to a few voices. Upon looking out of the tent, I see that a few lads have risen early, and takenthe initiative to collect wood and build a fire for everyone. Are these the same boys who, earlier this year, had to be reminded that if they wanted ketchup on their sandwiches they should go look in the refrigerator themselves?
Day 3:
It is a beautiful sunny day. “I am noticing that everyone has been working together and becoming more kind to each other” I say to one of the students. “Yeah, that is how our class works. We need a challenge to come around—a common enemy if you will. Even if that ‘enemy’ is just the elements of cold and rain.”
Day 4:
There is rain ahead. “It is easy to feel happy on a sunny day” Mr. Strevig says. “It is not so easy on a cloudy, rainy day. But can we be someone’s sunshine? That is my challenge for you, who can you be sunshine for today?”
“I love this food! This is the best thing I have ever eaten!” Exclaimed one of our 9th graders at dinner. Multiple peers concurred that this was true! Was it a fresh, seasonal, organic, gourmet meal? No, it was a simple bowl of ramen they made over a camp stove after our longest hike.
Day 5:
Boys and girls are mixing and mingling on the hike, and seeming to have fun and deep conversations. All year up to this point, our lads and lasses would not, on their own, cross the great gender divide. Despite encouragement and trying to mix things up, like oil and water, they would always separate themselves out again. BUT NOW, they are running up to one another, joking, laughing, sharing stories and appreciating one another’s company!
And this all could have been missed.
~
Many children in America meet a synthetic version of the world, curated for them by the adults in their lives. This is usually motivated by love and the wish for their children to have a positive life experience. Why would we not want our children to experience a kinder, gentler world? However, in this effort it can be easy to remove too many obstacles and create an environment that is too protected, and thus inadvertently do our growing children a disservice. We can, out of love, fear, care or concern, eliminate important challenges for the young person in our life.
How can we, in small ways and in big ways, allow for that right amount of lack, challenge and even a little safe suffering that supports a deepening in our children? Real life is humbling.
I am so grateful to be a part of a school community that thinks about this important question. Long ago, young people, coming of age, used to meet some intentional rite of passage, a challenge usually involving some kind of emotional and physical discomfort and calling forth their faculties to reason for themselves through the given challenge. Our modern teenager still needs these rites of passage. They need to come to the edge of their self-perceived abilities, to stretch, and see that they can indeed do more. Traditional coming of age experiences are harder and harder to find. It is for this reason that Kimberton Waldorf School has built into its curriculum these trips that pedagogically offer the right challenges at the right times under the guidance of knowledgeable teachers that know and love the students. Out of these conditions, the young people can come to know themselves.
Our class of 2028 demonstrated great courage, strength, trust, hope, initiative, kindness, and growing maturity. My beloved colleagues, Dan Smith and Jake Strevig showed warm and compassionate guidance for the students and kept them laughing. I am grateful to our 9th grade parents who had to practice great trust in us and in the process, to allow their children to experience discomforts and challenging circumstances and allow them to grow. To quote one of our 9th graders, “If we can do this…we can do anything!”
