3/23/10

Highlights of the Ski Season

We spent Thursday afternoons skiing during the winter. One group did alpine and snowboarding, and the other Nordic.

Zave at Middlebury Bread Loaf Ski Touring

Eliot, Patrick and Parker heading out

Willy and Ezekiel

Anoushka

Heading off for a run at Snowbowl

Schuyler

Bill, Louis and John

Nadine and Izzi

3/11/10

Red Cedar Middle School Students Go Winter Camping/Dogsledding

Our middle school students recently took to the local woods and fields on snowshoe and dogsled, and experienced an immersion in nature writing. The students spent a morning each week on snowshoe at the Bristol Watershed Center, exploring the area and recording their observations. Back in the classroom, they read poetry and narrative focused on nature, and wrote poetry and narrative of their own.

The highlight of the experience was two days spent with Vermont Dog Sledding in Shoreham, run by Red Cedar teacher Bill Heminway and his wife, Lissy. The students directly experienced the partnership of working with animals, breaking trail, teamwork, and the chores of feeding the dogs and other animals on the farm. The group camped overnight at a cabin on the property, and cooked meals with food grown and raised on the land.

The group worked throughout the experience with Ellie Moore, a student intern from Middlebury College. Authors featured in the reading and writing intensive included Barry Lopez, Mary Oliver, Farley Mowet, Gary Snyder, Robert Frost, Annie Dillard, Gary Paulsen and Jean Craighead George.