Lights, Camera, Action!

Below is the video we made of our time at camp. It is our personal reflections accompanied with video footage and photos of our adventures. Enjoy!

Raccoons, Eagles, and Orcas....Oh My!

We are freshly returned from our adventures on Orcas Island. And what adventures we had! We learned about ourselves, each other, and the world around us. We encountered challenges daily that caused us to change and grow into more perseverant and courageous people. Together we thrived as we encouraged each other through these challenging tasks, and learned that with encouragement, we can do things we thought too difficult.

Hiking Mt. Constitution was a major challenge we faced. And yet, we ALL MADE IT! Even though many of us wanted to quit, wanted to homestead right there on the steep hillside, we made it to the top. Each of us found different ways to embrace the challenge. Some found a natural strength that pushed them to the summit, others found empowerment in each other, while others found the surrounding beauty enough motivation to carry them upward. All of us had to dig deep, and find an inner strength that drove us to the summit.

Our other challenges included experiencing and conquering many natural residents on Orcas Island. That included the fearsome night time visitor, the beady-eyed raccoon. Each of us have our own raccoon adventure stories to tell, and love playing out the drama those nocturnal beasts caused. Others kept count of how many bald eagles we saw on a daily basis. Our favorite was the eagle who sat nestled in the treetops of Mt. Constitution, and hovered over us as we sang the preamble to the Constitution. One of the best encounters was the rare sighting of an Orca Whale pod breaching and spouting around in the Orkila bay.

While we may have returned a bit stinkier and dirtier than we were on our departure, that is not all that changed for us. Inside ourselves we discovered a source of bravery, courage, and determination to thrive at camp. Each of us left our comfort zones, and entered the challenge and learning zone. We made new friends and found new depths in our old friendships. Together we found and appreciated not only the natural beauty around us, but also within us, and within each other. We carry our camp memories in our hearts.

Next Stop, Amtrak Train Station!

We spent the afternoon attending a series of Camp Orkila preparation workshops in our train/ferry travel groups. We met with Tom Handel and discussed our gear, personal challenge levels, and how to support each other. Mrs. Clark helped us practice a conflict resolution protocol to use at camp. With Ms. Peterson we made name tags that included our funny camp names. Hundreds of questions were asked and answered, and we are ready! All Aboard!

Zen Ensō Meditations

These last two months we have practiced mindfulness through art. This week we began exploring the Zen meditation practice of drawing the ensō, a circle painted in one stroke and using a complete breath. Each ensō represents our uniqueness and individuality in its imperfection. Our next step is to use true Chinese calligraphy brushes to create an ensō and expand it with additional art that represents ourselves. We found this Zen mediation to be restorative and beautiful in their simplicity.

MHCSD Experiences

Our class had a great time serving our community on MHCSD this week. The kids chose one of four different ways to serve our community. Some of our students visited Medical Teams International where they learned about other world communities who receive medical help. They also helped pack medical supplies for the teams. Another group of students sorted and delivered nearly 6,000 pounds of food to Neighborhood House from the Project 2nd Wind food drive. One group of students created beautiful art pieces to sell at the Refugee Care Collective Art Fair fundraiser. The last group of students chose to host a reflection booth on campus collecting stories and reflections from all other OES students. Of course we ended our day with cherry popsicles.

Revising & Editing for Excellence

This week we've been hard at work writing essays about the central conflicts in our Revolution novels. We began with a brainstorm map to discover the central conflicts, transformed those ideas into an outline, and then constructed well organized essays. In our ongoing discussion of "How do we achieve excellence?" we created a revision & editing checklist with agreements from our class. Today, we worked independently and collaboratively to ensure our essays were polished examples of excellence.