Greenkill

Last week, I chaperoned the annual 3-day 6th grade trip to Greenkill. For those of you not familiar with Greenkill, it is an environmental camp in upstate New York. The kids learn about ecology and they also partake in Project Adventure activities. It's a great way for the 6th graders, who have come from different elementary schools, to get to know one another and to learn about teamwork and the environment. We chaperones had it pretty easy this year: no visits to the ER, no 'criers', no calls to home for kids to be picked up. The naturalists are with the kids for most of the day and all night long, so the teachers get to do a few different hikes of our own, including a midnight hike. We climbed up to "The Ridge" a little after midnight, guided by the light of a full moon and by our flashlights. Then we set up blankets, lay down, and stared at the stars. Lucky for us, a science teacher was there and more than willingly pointed out the constellations to us. It was so refreshing being back in nature for 3 days.