Family Hiking Day

Such great potential. I had so much interest. By the time I stopped collecting slips, I had 56 people coming on Saturday 9/24 to hike with my Outing Club kids as leaders. We had done two pre-hikes. I had put arrows up all along the trail (ones I could, and did, remove). I made appropriate groups, paired students with others to be group leaders, taught the leaders games they could play on the trail. I had thought of everything, and like my personality, controlled everything I possibly could. The one element I cannot control (no matter how hard I try) is the weather. And it foiled my beautiful vision of students as leaders, real-world skills, parents hiking healthily with their children in the beautiful Fall woods of our school's neighborhood. Foiled it BIGTIME. I held the hike despite what Jim calls "a driving mist" because I had been studying the radar and knew the worst of the rain would pass before we began hiking. But, when people would have been getting all their stuff together (including motivation) it was raining.

All my OC kids showed up and that alone almost always chokes me up. They showed up!! They filled my classroom with their energy and laughter (and their humidity : ) an hour early as asked. We set up Jim's "Easy-Up" he uses for the Farmers' Markets and waited for the folks to show. Early on I had two dads of my students join (YAY!!) and so I knew I had at least two family members. I stood under the "Easy-Up" checking my watch, letting my partner in crime assure me people would show -- smiled at my kiddos and waited. And waited and waited. And then a car -- ONE car pulled in the school's parking lot -- and they were there to HIKE! It was a mom and her 3rd grade daughter. So I had those two, plus the two dads...

and that


was


it


: (


The mom and daughter had been assigned to a lovely pair of wonderful kids (although all my kids in this club truly are great people) and I had those two lead their hike just as planned. They were so cute heading off into the woods with their radios on to keep in touch with me. I again, got a little choked up.

The rest of the crew? We decided to hike too -- so we split into two groups -- who would go up Bull Rock only (some girls had a soccer game that evening) and who would go up Sugarloaf for the third time in 7 days? We split and headed out. It was wet and misty and wonderful in the woods. And we had fun.

After the hike, just after, the sun came out and it got HOT -- humid -- sticky and hot. We ate some pizza as a group and then split again ready for the next adventure.

All in all, it was a success. I KNOW there is interest in this kind of activity, and I will do it every year and every year will get better and easier. I have a good plan for having my students do some learning activities with the little ones next year -- critter identification, tree identification, plant identification, games, etc. It will be good. And maybe by then I can control the weather?

Afternoon pre-hike #2 Friday after school before Family Hiking Day

The view on Friday -- but not on Saturday!

In my classroom - notice the windows jacked open

Chilling and organizing - getting cell phone numbers, etc.

Family Hiking Day - light on the Family - that is a dad though, that last man! YES!

Summit of Sugarloaf - the two on the right is my one Family -- the little one loved it!

Here is to next year!