Matya and Eli were first in line out of 75 kids for hot cocoa this morning! Tefillah was next followed by a filling breakfast and then we headed out to the woods for a five hour day! Dr. Waynik and Tal joined groups for the morning and Caleb and I journeyed with different groups as well.

 

When groups returned at 2:30 everyone had snack and then we went back to our cabin. During chofesh, free time, there was an enthusiastic, creative game of tag. Next we all joined for a game of predator vs. prey. It was hard to keep up with all the hawks, snakes and mice but I did see Joel (snake) catch Natalya (mouse).

Then it was dinner. And finally, all the students participated in a ritual craft. Our students whittled yads (Asher, Avi, Be'eri, Itamar, Jordan, Matya, Shai); made clay mezzuzot and felted kippot (Eli, Natalya, Rebecca, Zoe); silk painted a challah cover (Ellie); and used metal and a small blow torch to make netilat yadaim cups (Gabe, Joel). 

I have learned that our students like flint & steel and knives... both very useful tools and skills to have for outdoor education!!

 

Below are some statements from students about their day. Happy reading.

 

Itamar- I liked the Red hiking trail because of the view at the end.

Rebecca- I made my own fire! I built it and started it using flint and steel.

Gabe- Today I went to the Overlook and the view was amazing. We could see really far and it was really high up.

Avi- I pet the goats and they were soft. (One of Avi's Teva educators told me that after a solo walk, she asked him what he was thinking about. He replied that he was just thinking about how amazing it is that all the giant trees and variety of trees used to be tiny seeds. I write this with Avi's permission.)

Shai- Today we got to light our own fire in groups and used flint and steel. There were large sparks and it was awesome. Also we made a group flag out of my undershirt.

Ellie- I liked climbing on the big rocky cliff area. There were a lot of rocks and they were really high. It was next to a vernal pool. I chose a really hard route to take and it was cool.

Jordan- I liked hiking through the caves on the blue trail. It was fun to go and crawl through the rocks. It was a really fun day.

Be'eri- I liked the hot chocolate before tefillah because it tasted good and a nice way to start the morning.

Eli- Tonight I made a clay mezuzah and I think it is pretty good. I also made a kippah out of wool. The best thing about today was when everyone in my group was laughing really hard when we were in the yurt.

Zoe- I liked solo hiking because I was able to connect with nature and with myself a bit. 

Joel- I made a netilat yadaim cup out of a can, knife, and fork. I liked it because I used a blowtorch and a drill. I couldn't finish so I will work on it at the makerspace or at home. 

Natalya- It was fun working with the clay and I was able to make a mezuzah. I wish I had more time to make my kippah and mezuzah.

Asher- I liked the good pasta dinner! And tefillah was nice because we went outside for the Amidah.

 

Breakfast: eggs, blueberry muffin baked pancake, yogurts, fruits, cereals 

Lunch: (was packed in the morning and eaten on the trail) tuna, egg salad, sunflower seed butter, jam sandwiches, fruit, trail mix, pretzels, other snacks.

 

Below is a new link to photos. The easiest way for me to manage this was to make a different folder for each day. I hope you enjoy seeing all these incredible and happy faces! By the way, our kids all said thank you at hot chocolate this morning and the staff and Teva Educators are very impressed with the level of respect and participation our students exhibit.

 

 

A few notes about photos: 

No Ashers were hurt in the photo of Morah Marcy and Avi "strangling" him!

Zoe was wearing noise cancelling headphones because the singing is really loud but she did not want to miss it!