BSS Spring 08

"Do you hear that? I believe its the sound of us not canoeing"

In preperation for my intimate group of kids from BSS coming up this afternoon for a 5 day, 4-night unchaperoned program, I am typing up the May 8-9 overnight with the same school in the spring.

The thing I loved about working with these students who we do in-school programming with during the year is that outside of their "toxic" environment in Newark, where the neighborhood is rough and fronting is a requirement for survival, these students very much flourished out in the country on our experiential education campus.

It was great to hang out with the students and to spend 23 hours a day with them, and I am looking forward to this program. Nothing makes me prouder than becoming a lifeguard on Friday, except for the fact that the Program Coordinators are trusting me to take these 6 middle-schoolers with my co-facilitator out on the Delaware this Wednesday.

There should be more kids coming up from the city on this trip. There should be half a dozen groups staying on-property. However, the fact that we didn't get paperwork for them all means that my students and I are going to have a really intimate experience.

Two things to remember: I need to constantly be asking my co for delta feedback to get it. Also, last time BSS was here I left my keys attached to a pack on a porch, which I haven't done recently.

In the spring, to prepare these students for their overnight camping in a tent, we set up a crazy scavenger hunt for them, and they really rocked it out. It gave them a familiarity with what a campsite is going to look like, which is really exciting.