Fall in the 5th grade at HPES means Camp McDowell time!! I had the pleasure of attending Camp McDowell again this year. This time with my Abby Claire! Of course, she was super excited to go since she had heard from big sis how much fun she had at CMcD. The chaperones all met at the school the morning of October 29, 2012 to load the vehicles with luggage and then we caravanned to Camp McDowell. We went straight to our cabins unloaded and met up with our cabin mates. Then it was time for our welcome meeting and lunch. After lunch we joined our field group, the Gray Squirrels, for our first activity which was Survival Skills.
During survival skills our instructor took us to the woods and let us go! Nah, not really............but close! She made the kids turn their backs to her while she started down one of the trails. She marked her path with white powder as she went along. The students had to decide which trail she went down. Then we sent a student every 30 seconds down that trail. The students were to find their way to the instructor by following her powder markings. Well, in theory, that should have worked well. And it would have except for the rambunctious male students took off running wildly not paying close attention to the powder plus the male students that did see the powder started wiping it off and "reapplying" to different trails. By the time all the students were in the woods, it was mass chaos! Everyone was lost. Abby, her friend, and I stuck together and were "rescued" by a dad in the group. He led us to the instructor and then he headed out one way and the instructor (who was by now beside herself with worry) headed another to find the rest. We were the first ones to be found and heeded the sign in the picture below.
All the Gray Squirrels were again reunited and had learned a valuable lesson as did the instructor! She tried the activity with one more group to which the very same thing happened so she culled that activity from her repertoire! Ha ha!
The next part of survival skills was building a shelter out of limbs, twigs, and leaves. Since Camp McDowell follows a strict naturalist code,
the material could not be broken
off or pulled from trees or living plants.
Working together :)
Here's the shelter the girls group made. Good job!
Dinner time in Eppes Dining Hall
After dinner the Gray Squirrels went on a night hike
and did a little star gazing. Then it was to evening snack
and to the cabin for showers and bed!
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