Big Kids on the Playground

As promised, here is the second post about the North Creek Park outing during the first week of school. After everyone had explored the boardwalk and other trails in the park, we all gathered at the playground near the wetland. The youngest student in our party was 8 years old and the oldest 18. With the exception of one surprisingly challenging piece of equipment, the playground was a fun diversion. It's always fun to see older Clearwater kids play with abandon and without self-consciousness, especially in a playground built with with much younger children in mind.

A gaggle of girls on a bridge

A big guy can get a big bounce

Cass (on pole) and Braden

The equipment pictured above was challenging, especially for the oldest, biggest kids, and was the source of much experimentation and discussion. It's a large pole with a platform for sitting or standing that rotates when someone pushes either the person on it or the handles at the top. Unlike a merry-go-round, riders have to be close to the pivot point.

Leo spinning Cass & Keenan

It turned out to be devilishly difficult for big, tall students to even stay on, despite bigger muscles and dogged determination. In addition, several older students looked positively green after just a few seconds spinning. The champion spinner was 10-year-old Keenan, whose pole-spinning enthusiasm and stamina was inexhaustible. She had no trouble hanging on, felt dizzy but never sick, and earned the respect and admiration of the 13- to 18-year-old guys in the group.

Swingers Mara, Matt, Delayney and Leo

Lucas and Cass flying

Older students continued to work at the spinning pole challenge. Some decided that rather than trying to hang on to the pole, they would take advantage of the centrifuge effect. They clung to the handles at the top, ran and launched themselves. For a few thrilling and satisfying seconds, their bodies were airborne.


Not to be outdone and in spite of her awesome ability to hang on to the spinning pivot, 10-year-old Keenan got in on flying, too.

Braden and Keenan

Keenan and Cass (Lucas behind pole)

Airborne trio Lucas, Keenan and Cass

Cass and Aidan

As a staff member, I have the privilege of watching Clearwater students metaphorically spread their wings--maturing, experimenting, developing skills, taking leadership, discovering and pursuing passions, offering empathy and compassion, to name a few examples. How exhilarating it felt that day at the park to watch the physical embodiment of the very real and important flights that Clearwater students take every day as they figure out what's important to them, develop relationships, and work hard to achieve their goals.

End of post.

Unaccompanied Miner (Day 1)

Unaccompanied Miner

Day 1
I've woken up on this strange island. I'll document my adventures here. I'm in the middle of a valley, and there are a couple trees around, but that's about it. The first thing I'll need is a shelter, and I suppose wood is the best material for that. But how to cut down the trees? I suppose I can try and pull some branches off to make an axe. Woah! I'm much stronger here! I can just pull the trees to the ground! However, these logs aren't very suitable for building a house out of. Let's see if I can make some planks out of them.
There we go! That's much better! Now I can start work on my shelter. First, I'll need to clear some space.
Done! Now for the shelter itself.
Ta-da! That's all well and good, but I'll need some more planks if I want to finish this shelter, and that means I need an axe. However, I don't think I can hold all the pieces together. I'll need something to put them on while I piece together the axe. Maybe a workbench?
Sweet! Now I can make an axe! Maybe I should make a sword as well, in case there's anything I need to defend myself against on this island. And maybe a pickaxe, so I can make some stronger tools. First I'll need some handles.
Next the axe head.
Now for a sword.

And lastly, a pickaxe!

There! Now I'll go chop some more trees down, and finish up my shelter.

But what is this! Sheep, and a cow! The sheep will provide wool, and I may be able to make some makeshift leather armor out of the cow's hide!
I need to grab my sword from my pack, and rush over to the fauna before they escape.
Take that, cow! Now to harvest the wool from the sheep, and get back to chopping wood. Oh look, another cow! I almost have enough leather for some boots now!
Uh-oh, it's getting dark. I'd better head back to my homestead and finish building that house.
Hopefully I don't run into anything nasty while I'm finishing the house. If something sneaks up on me, I'm not sure my wooden sword will hold out.

There. Done with my house. I'll go ahead and get a good night's sleep, who knows when I'll have another opportunity to sleep. In the morning, I'll look for some coal, so I can make torches. If I'm lucky, I'll find some other useful materials.


Midnight.

(This story is about the game called Minecraft, and is from the perspective of the character you play.)

North Creek Park Outing

Last week a group of us piled into the Clearwater bus and drove up to North Creek Park. If you live in the area and haven't visited this park, it's well worth a trip. It's a wetland with a boardwalk through it, lots of wildlife and interpretive signs. The flora and fauna vary with the seasons and different wildlife are visible at different times of day.

The day we were there was warm. Although the weather was dry, there are several areas of the board walk that are prone to sink slightly below water level when a bunch of people walk along them at the same time. That was a source of amusement and challenge for several Clearwater students, who wanted all of us to walk or stand on a section, submerging it so they could have the fun of escaping the deluge or wading in it.

Heading down to the boardwalk

One interpretive sign talked about the importance of wetlands, describing them metaphorically as the kidneys of the earth. Clearwater staff member Matt thought it would be fun to talk about his own kidneys as the wetlands of the body. A little later, a student extended the metaphor further and suggested that lakes might be the bladders of the earth.

Reading about the function of wetlands

Delicate floating duckweed

Girls returning from a boardwalk spur to a peat bog

Because wetlands help clean storm water, the fact that Clearwater is downstream of North Creek Park means that the creek is cleaner when it gets to us than before it goes through the park. In fact, we noticed areas of water in the park that had an oily sheen and the appearance of sludge.

We also noticed and heard lots of birds and insects, and saw the occasional garter snake.

Fun with flooded boardwalk

Girls voluntarily trapping themselves on platform

Common Touch-Me-Not or Jewelweed (Impatiens noli-tangere)

Water Smartweed (Polygonum amphibium)

A lovely nosegay made by a student

In spite of one minor injury (a nettle sting), everyone spent a lot of time exploring the board walk and dirt trails of the park. After exploring the wetland, we all met up at the playground by the parking lot, where everyone played. Photos and information about that part of the trip will be in a post later this week.

End of post.

First Week of School

The first week of school has ended and the second week begins at Clearwater. The word that best describes the week for me is joy. Everyone is so happy about being back and hanging out with friends. There is so much to talk about, to do, to try, to experience. Everyone is a little older, more mature, more themselves. Of course, this happens through the school year, too, but the three-month gap makes the difference seem more striking and even miraculous.Even after being on staff for 15 years, I feel such wonder and gratitude to be able to know the incredible people who attend Clearwater and witness their growth.

The big news in terms of our physical environment is that a lot of sockeye salmon are returning to spawn in North Creek. The bulk of their bodies are an intense red-orange color, the head and tail are green, and the top of their snout is hooked down to enable them to dig depressions for egg laying in the silt of the creek bed. After two previous years with no salmon sightings, it is wonderful to be able to see their tenacity as they move upstream past little rapids and waterfalls.

The glare on the water inteferred with really clear photos of the fish, but the red bodies are visible even through the glare. Many salmon rest for long periods in a calm, deep pool south of the foot bridge before marshalling their energy to push upstream again.





Three girls who performed acrobatics on the spinning bar at Whistlepig last spring are continuing to refine their technique, experiment and add new moves. It is mesmerizing to see their focus, their willingness to try things even when the results look awkward. They are planning to have a whole new routine to present at Whistlepig next spring. Two of them are pictured here.








The foosball table also saw some action.


The punching bag in the basement attracted 5- and 6-year-old girls who walloped it within an inch of its life.


Several students want to learn and practice tennis, which inspired Matt, staff member and sports guru, to create a tennis/pickle ball court in the active room.



While two younger students waited for Matt and Robert to finish their game so they could take the court, they served as skilled ball boys.









End of post.