Greetings on this beautiful fall afternoon,

The class of 2015 enjoyed the first of many special 8th grade experiences this past week when they traveled to Bear Creek Camp in Wilkes Barre, PA.  The one-night camping trip included activities designed for fun, team- building, and personal planning and reflection. Students spent a significant amount of time thinking about and discussing what it means to be a leader and how they can get the most out of their "senior" year at The Swain School.

Team building activities required students to solve largely physical problems like getting every team member over a wall or through a giant spider web.  Other challenges were more mentally challenging, like figuring out how to manipulate an inner tube tied with ten cords (each about ten feet long) so that it will grasp a large block of wood tightly enough to transport the wood into a plastic bucket.

Students learned about local wildlife and the difference among nocturnal (active at night), diurnal (active during the day) and crepuscular (active at dusk and dawn) animals.  They enjoyed a night hike and a bonfire with s'mores.  Around the campfire they discussed the examples of leadership that emerged during the day's teambuilding activities and how they envision themselves being effective leaders at The Swain School this year.

The next morning students reflected on what they want from their 8th grade year, how they would like their class to be remembered after they're gone and the value of learning from past failures.  Some of the phrases the Class of 2015 would like to have associated with them after they're gone include:

In a journaling exercise, students reflected upon the most important thing(s) they've learned at Swain.  The 8th graders will be invited to share their thoughts with the entire middle school at a future town meeting.

The trip wrapped up with canoeing and kayaking on the lake.  For a few of our students, this was their first experience with this type of activity and they showed great courage and embraced a sense of adventure!

Click on any photo to take you to a gallery of images taken by 8th grade team leader Julia Getty, including three videos at the end of their games of
"Ga Ga" - significant because everyone voluntarily joined in to play together.