Today, the Herons left school singing. They were trying to figure out all the words to an epicly long song we sang at our campout. One child would remember one part, another would fill in the next. They bopped along, working together, laughing and content as they left the building.
This is the reason I do a campout with the Herons. There are many ways to bring a class together and help it gel but 24 hours of togetherness is a very efficient way to create a common story. The list of activities we did is long: lantern making, whittling, geocaching, creek exploration, tent set up, singing, Skittles, night hike, clay collection, fossil hunting, campfire gazing, singing, glacial erratic scaling… The list of connections and memories is longer.
It takes a lot of support to put on the campout. Thank you to our daytime volunteers – Josie, Kerry, Joe G-B, and Regi. And our nighttime chaperon crew – Dani, Kraig, Grandpa Jim, Randy and Joe G-B. And thanks to everyone who brought supplies, picked up after the potluck, carried trash home and generally made things run smoothly and easily.
I took a moment as everyone was eating dinner together to look around and appreciate how much I enjoy being a part of this community. I hope you got a chance to connect with some old friends and meet a few new ones. I hope this year will be one that you find filled with stories, too.
The Rookery 
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