Winter Sports at Cornwall School!   I have posted about our skating program and about the opportunities for snowshoeing at Cornwall School. This seems like a good time to include a post about the incredible cross country ski school program offered by Rikert Nordic Center. Long time fifth grade teacher, Paul Kaplan, (now retired and skiing the big hills in Gunnison, CO) created a program at school in conjunction with Rikert. Paul took those fifth graders on weekly treks averaging between 8 and 10 opportunities on snow. I am so pleased that this tradition at Cornwall School lives on! Grades 1-6 all have scheduled dates for the 2015 Ski Season. We are indebted to our ever faithful families who take time from their lives to transport the children to and from. The best news is that the school is able to offer this experience free of charge using monies from the Gilligan Fund. Come join us!  First and Second Graders will ski according to the following schedule:
Tuesday February 3rd
Tuesday February 10th
Tuesday February  24th  
All morning time slots!

Photo Op with the Piston Bully

We are Kings of this Mountain!

Over a decade ago, I wrote a grant to purchase a set of snowshoes for young children from Red Feather, a company based in Evergreen, CO. Over the years we have added to our collection including sizes for the older children as well. It is now possible to have at least two classes outfitted in snowshoes at the same time. The snowshoes have been used for outdoor education in conjunction with our Four Winds Program, treks to the Robert Frost Trail, and just for fun in the fields and woods surrounding school. Last week we experienced one of the earliest snow dumps in my memory. The best news is that the temperature has remained mild. After returning from skating today, I decided to take advantage of the snow, mild temps, and the already mixed up day, and have our maiden snowshoe trek of the First Grade year. I organized for the event while the children were at recess by setting up the nine pair of snowshoes on the porch walkway so that I could nab the children as they returned from recess. I am admitting to all who reads this that helping nine six and seven year olds into snowshoes requires incredible fortitude, stamina and patience! (I almost failed!) After some deep breathing, I donned my pair and off we went. We headed to the outdoor classroom. While passing the garden the children noticed that the depth of the snow was so great that it covered our raised beds. The sitting stones were also buried under the snow. We circled past toward the hedgerow and over the stream into the far off field. Walking through the field was actually easier going. We wound our way back to the playground via of the village created by the sixth grade class. They have constructed three huts using all natural materials. The children were amazed and their curiosity was sparked! I was incredibly proud of their positive energy, stamina, and support of one another and look forward to more times in the snow with these trekkers!

The much anticipated "first day of skating" arrived today! We are fortunate to be able to have rink time at the Kenyon Arena at Middlebury College. It is an amazing rink complete with a locker room, lights, music and a few chairs to assist the beginners as they find their balance and their stride! The time went by all too fast, but no worries, we return
again on the 8th of January with our Middlebury College Women Hockey Mentors to offer support.

First Grade Skaters take time from their skate to pose for a picture!

Four Winds

Cornwall students are fortunate to participate in an enviromental program called Four Winds. Four Winds Nature Institute is a non-profit organization advancing the understanding, appreciation and protection of the environment through community-based natural science education and research. Four Winds staff members are educators and scientists dedicated to helping children and adults gain the background knowledge and science skills needed to understand the world around them and the creative problem-solving and citizenship skills needed to protect it.  Five times a year a staff member meets for an afternoon with Cornwall's finest parent volunteers for a training for that year's focus and theme. The parent volunteer for each grade then makes a date with the classroom teacher for our own workshop. Four Winds programs encourage children to learn about and explore nearby nature, connecting people to the natural world where they live, work and play.  On Thursday our two volunteers introduced us to a "Blanket of Air." The air we breathe is part of the earth's atmosphere, a layer of gases that surrounds the planet protecting us from harmful radiation and keeping us warm. Although air is invisible, children discovered that it takes up space, exerts pressure and has weight. Through the following activities; a puppet show, Paper Flip, Pump Action, and Egg in a Bottle, the children had opportunities to understand the concept of "air takes up space."

Author Visit!

In an age when media devices dominate our world we in our small community are blessed to have an active and responsive independent book shop that works hard to put books in the hands of teachers to inspire the next generation of readers. One amazing service (and let's identify it as an incredible gift!) that they have provided this fall are visits from well known children's authors to the local schools. One special visitor that spent a morning at Cornwall School was Ashley Wolff. Ashley grew up in Middlebury, attended local schools, studied at RISD, and is now building a home on the lake. She enthralled the children in grades K-3 with her story about becoming an artist and a book author. She enlisted the talents and ideas from the children to create a storybook complete with illustrations that adorns the primary hall wall. It has thrilled me to see the impact of her visit through the writing and drawing of the Primary children. They have taken her message of "keep on drawing; the more you draw the better you become" to heart!

First Graders posing with Ashley Wolff. They are holding Bear and Miss Bindergarten as well as a collection of Ashley's books.

The School Garden

We harvested potatoes on a beautiful October day.

Two first graders "dig in" to find every last potato! They were used for potato salad for lunch the next day.

Over the years many of us at Cornwall School have put great effort into helping children develop a sense of place using a school garden has the vehicle. As you might imagine this has been met with varying degrees of success. In the ideal world I have visions of spending sunny spring afternoons outside with my firsties digging in the dirt creating homes for the tiny seeds which will grow into lush and productive plants ready to be harvested (again by the children) when we return to school in the fall. In reality Vermont springs are unpredictable, often cool and rainy, which almost always translates to clumps of Addison clay on the bottoms of boots and an unsatisfying experience. This past year the kinder teacher spent incredible amounts of time enlisting many volunteers to prepare a new garden spot that included a combination of raised beds and room for garden rows of sunflowers, potatoes beans and squash. Her efforts paid off! When we returned in the fall the beds that we planted were producing and the garden was adorned with brightly colored banners created by the children. We look forward to next spring when we can build on this positive start and maybe, just maybe, the sun gods will be with us!

First and Second Graders visit Shelburne Farms!

On Wednesday Nov. 19 we traveled north to Shelburne to participate in a program called History of Farming. This is always a much anticipated trip because we work hard to prepare for the visit. We feel fortunate to be invited back as this trip has consistently been successful and fun, a hard-to-beat combination! We spent time beforehand in the classroom reading books about farm life in the olden days. One such book is titled, Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall. Through the pages in this book we caught a glimpse of what it might have been like living and working in a time before modernization.  It was a blustery, cold November day on the Farm but the children were outside most of the day grinding corn to feed the chickens, walking the goat, scratching the pigs, and lifting hay bales. Vermont kids play and work outdoors - no matter the weather!