The Rookery

It always takes me a while to think through everything that happens during our very busy Wolf Ridge week.  Being able to observe so many different teachers while I'm there always makes me reflective about my own practice.  This year I was struck by the power of discovery that some of our naturalists evoke.  They teach these classes again and again throughout the year and yet some of them are able to become genuinely excited about what the kids are finding as we walk (or run) through the woods.  These classes are the ones that stand out in the students' minds.  There is a sense of the unexpected and a feeling that our experience is unique.  It's not that the naturalists are acting excited…they actually are.  Not every naturalist who works at Wolf Ridge will go in to education but I think that those who are sharing so enthusiastically in the students' discovery probably will be very happy if they chose that route.

I was also struck again and again by the students' ability to work through things that were difficult or uncomfortable.  Of course, the ropes course is an obvious example — the first step on the single wire can prove to a child that he or she can overcome fears in both an immediately concrete and metaphorical sense.  But there were countless more examples throughout the week: unfamiliar food, the stairs of doom, being cold, being tired, having sore muscles, waking up to snoring roommates…  The students were able to take a deep breath and decide that they could manage and, what's more, they could have a wonderful time.  Instead of getting wrapped up in what was unpleasant, they supported each other and jumped into the experience whole heartedly; they were open to and excited by what they were doing.  Of course, it helps that the students have been waiting for six years for their chance to come to Wolf Ridge — but they still did an amazing job.

Sigh…I'm sorry that the prose is still a little rough around the edges.  The ideas have not yet come into focus.  I'll be thinking about them for a long time but I wanted to share with you a little of what I see and think about when I go to Wolf Ridge.

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