Bio Drey Land for a Senior

The four days I was slated to spend at Drey Land looked like they were going to be a little out of the ordinary for what was typical of the trip. The weather report said that highs for the week were going to be in the low sixties and at night it might get down to 35 degrees. I remembered from my 9^th grade Drey Land experience that I had brought my summer sleeping bag and that I had regretted that decision when the nights were cold and wet so this time, I packed my warmest sleeping bag and several sweatshirts to stay warm.

                The other counselors, Cole, Jake, Sam, Joe, Rainey, Kathleen, Molly, Haley, Olivia, and I arrived early Wednesday morning to help load the buses with the freshmen’s things. After loading we hopped on the buses and began the three hour drive down to Drey Land. The ride was relatively uneventful until we were just pulling into Drey Land when we saw all the session one students and counselors hiking down the road. Their faces showed a mixture of exhaustion and grime but everyone overall looked happy. Whether this was because they had enjoyed the experience or were simply happy to be leaving was hard to tell.

                After unloading all of the bags, the counselors and students assembled on the gravel bar to be oriented by our camp directors, Mr. Bisch and Mrs. Donovan. The meeting would be a good predictor of what was to come as it started to lightly rain. Groups were created and cabins were assigned so the adventure was ready to begin. I knew most of the freshmen who were staying in my cabin which made it a little easier for me to talk to them. My group, on the other hand, who I was co-counseloring with Cole and Molly, was a collection of kids who I barely knew at all. However, it didn’t take very long for us all to get comfortable with each other and we quickly began having a lot of fun together.

                Bio Drey Land is split into two classes, Forest and Stream, that the students participate in and that the counselors help guide.  Our first class was in the forest and my sub-group was assigned to the Riparian Zone, the thorny and moist section of the forest that is easily the worst place to be. Keep in mind during this whole time it is steadily drizzling and the temperature is slowly falling. After assisting my freshmen in measuring the diameters of trees and identifying certain leaves, we returned back to the relative dryness of camp.

                Next we had stream. This first day was perhaps one of the most miserable things I have ever experienced. We got into our wet clothes and headed downhill to begin our activities. The rain was still falling steadily plus outside of the insulated forest, the wind was blowing with a cold bite. We were supposed to be catching crayfish but everyone was just counting the minutes until we could leave the cold stream and the cold air behind. The time eventually came and we quickly ran back up to the camp to get warm by the fire.

                When the shivering stopped and my group had put many layers of warm clothes on, it was time to get ready for our cookout.  It’s a Bio Drey Land tradition that on each night one of the groups builds steamboats out of aluminum foil and cooks them over a fire while playing fun camp games. It is up to the senior counselors to keep the kids entertained during this activity. Unfortunately, the rain had not let up at all. Everything was wet including the wood that we were supposed to use for our fire. Cole, Molly and I were worried about being able to keep 15 kids entertained for 3 hours in the rain and having to start a fire when everything was wet. Armed with a half-full bottle of lighter fluid and what little dry wood we had, we headed down to the gravel bar for our cookout.

                Things didn’t start out well, the kindling we gathered was soaked and refused to catch on fire. Us counselors were completely focused on getting the fire started because without it, the freshmen would not be eating dinner. However, why we were messing around with the fire, our campers were standing idly around looking like they weren’t having too much fun. We tried and tried and when we finally got down to the last few drops of lighter fluid, some of the wood actually caught on fire and it seemed like we were going to make it.

                With the fire finally going, morale picked up a little due particularly to the efforts of Teddy Martin.  Teddy and his friend Jay Kanzler seemed to be very excited for the Drey Land experience and were in good spirits for the entire trip. He also was very eager to socialize with seniors and we talked and joked together pretty often. He started referring to our group as “FAMILY!” which quickly became our group’s motto and how we identified members of our group.

                Our fire was not huge but eventually got big enough to fit everyone’s steamboats onto it comfortably and after 20 minutes of waiting, we all dug into our ketchupy concoctions. After dinner we broke out the s’mores and quickly burned through those as well. Once all the food was exhausted though, we still had an hour left and we three counselors didn’t have that many games to play. We started mafia which usually takes a while to play but by a stroke of bad luck the mafia was guessed early and the game came to a quick end. So for the rest of the time we watched the clock. The rain was still coming down and with our fire dying and no food to eat and no games to play, our freshmen were itching to get back to camp. The night wasn’t a complete failure though as I got to bond with several of the freshmen which was a lot of fun.

                Back at camp it was nearly time for bed so I headed to my cabin and got my bunk ready to go. After joking around with the freshmen for a little while, we all fell asleep in anticipation for the long day tomorrow.

                The weather report I had looked at before we left was not wrong. The temperature reached about 38 degreees overnight and I woke up shivering even though I had worn a long-sleeved shirt and a sweatshirt to bed. The rain had subsided for the time-being but that wasn’t very important when there was frost on the ground.

                The day was fairly uneventful. We checked the animal traps in the morning and found a raccoon, we went back into the forest and collected soil samples, we returned to the cold stream to hunt for microorganisms and we ate nutter butters and oreos around the lodge. Night returned and Cole and I were feeling a little dirty after rediscovering all of the things that the creek held so we decided a cold shower would be appropriate. Although senior counselors are awarded a hot shower for our labors, I have taken at least one cold shower every time I’ve gone down there and I didn’t want to break the tradition.  Our fellow counselors called us fools saying we were going to freeze even once the water was turned off but we didn’t listen and went for it anyway. The water was particularly cold this time so the shower was brief but strangely energizing. It was cool to see our bodies steam in the cold air. All clean I headed to bed and again after a few jokes with my freshmen, I cocooned in my sleeping bag and fell asleep.

                I had been a fool though and had not thoroughly dried my hair after the shower and so about 2am I woke up freezing. My head was exposed and slightly crispy. It was May 16^th and my hair was frozen. I through my sleeping bag over my head and cocooned even deeper and somehow made it through the rest of the night, relatively warm. When we awoke I talked to Ms. Bahe who said it had reached 32 degrees overnight and that it was the coldest she had ever seen at Drey Land. What a good decision that shower was.

                On this last morning we were scheduled to seine but it was postponed to allow a little more time for the temperature to rise so we wouldn’t completely freeze in the creek. When the time did come and we submerged ourselves in the cold water, at least the sun was shining and it was only very cold when the wind was blowing. After these last classes, it was time for games. Ms. Bahe sat the seniors down and told us the basic plan for the afternoon. The float trip was out since it was just too cold but we still had the volleyball game and any activity afterwards.

                We broke into our class groups and brainstormed ideas for team names and dances. One team did a pterodactyl interpretation of “Thriller”, another group modeled their team off of the camp dog (fondly named Mal) and my team did a dance that was in rather bad taste. The game started and we the seniors made many arbitrary calls to keep the game interesting and had several point disputes featuring a vegetable off, an exciting game of pterodactyl, pick-up lines and rhymes.  After volleyball we played mingle for awhile until the campers had to return to work and finish their packets. The senior counselors were tasked with packing up the equipment and cleaning the camp a little but then we were set free for a few hours to go build a fire and eat some banana boats. Our time outside was cut short by the reappearance of rain and we spent the rest of the night in the lodge by the fire. I was so eager to get back into my sleeping bag and stay warm that I got too comfortable and fell asleep when I had planned to stay up with my cabin as they worked into the night. Oh well.

                In the morning we packed and cleaned out the cabins as the campers hurried to finish their packets. When everyone was done and the fire was extinguished, Everyone strapped on their backpacks and started the mile walk out to the buses. Of course it wasn't cold on this morning so when we got to the buses, everyone was hot and tired.

                All-in-all I am very glad I decided to do Bio Drey Land for my May Project. It was a great last opportunity to make some connections at the school I will soon be leaving. Despite the cold I honestly think this was my favorite Drey Land experience. When you don’t feel the constant pressure of those packets looming over your head, the activities at Bio Drey Land are so much more enjoyable. Plus with the free time on the last night, it was a great bonding time with a small group of classmates. Most importantly Drey Land has been a very important part of my Burroughs experience and has marked my progression through the years. I cannot think of a more fitting way to end my career here than with one last trip down there.

Today is the day! See you in the Commons at 4:00.
Keep blogging!

          I am doing my May Project at Ackerman School in the Special School District. Students that go to     Ackerman vary in their amount of independence and the amount of assistance that they need on a day-to-day basis. Some of the students have developmental disabilities, while others have physical disabilities. I have been working in one classroom for my work, which is a classroom that includes students on the Autism-spectrum. There is a lead teacher, Ms. Ellen, who is my sponsor, and four permanent assistant teachers in the class. The reason that I chose this classroom in particular is because my youngest brother, Kellen, is in the class. Including Kellen there are seven students in the class who are so loving and I have enjoyed every moment working with them. Each of the students has unique needs, which presents unique challenges each and every day. Some of the students have more issues with academics, while some have more behavioral issues.
          On the very first day working at Ackerman, we went on a bowling field trip. The students were pretty well behaved for the most part. For the first game of bowling, a lot of the kids were interested and engaged. I was responsible for bowling and keeping up with Kellen. He, along with a few of the other students like to run on impulse, so precautions had to be taken. Whenever it was Kellen's turn to bowl, I would help him bowl while one of the teachers would stand on the side of the line to prevent against a possible attempt to make a run towards the pins. After the first game was over, the kids weren't really interested anymore, and preferred to sit and eat rather than bowl. The owner of the bowling alley was a pretty creepy guy. Actually he was nice, but the creepy thing about him was his fingernails. They were long as a mug and looked like some fake clip-on nails or something. At around 11:30 a.m I had to leave from the bowling alley to head towards school because I still had my AP Biology class.There was another girl who was also volunteering in the same class as me, who is a senior at St. Joe's. Since some of the kids don't deal well with transition, she told me that after they got back to school, everyone was screaming and upset. I only was in class for the mornings up until May 12th because I had to leave Ackerman at 11:30 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and at 10:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
          The next day was a Thursday, and it was the first day I experienced a day in the classroom. Although I only stayed in the classroom for two hours that morning, this is how a typical day in Room 9 at Ackerman works. At 8:45 each morning the kids get off the buses and are greeted by teachers and brought into the classroom. They all hang up their backpacks in their cubbies and put their jackets in there as well. Then, a few at a time, the teachers take them to the bathroom before they get started on their work. Two of the students, E. and Ka. (I will abbreviate names besides my brother), come back to the room and get working on a puzzle set out for each of them to do. After they each finish their puzzle, they move on to their seat work. Whenever E. finises his puzzle, he says, "good job" in his high pitched voice. Ka. sometimes takes longer than E. to finish his puzzle because along with being on the Autism spectrum, he is very OCD, and needs to do his puzzle a certain way and have everything in a specific order. Everyone else in the class, Am., S., G., Az., and Kellen, jump right into their seat work after using the bathroom. Seat work usually includes coloring in the letter of the day on one of their sheets of paper, and matching pictures or letters on the second sheet. We always have to pay close attention to Am. while she is doing seat work because she loves the peel the paper off the crayons and subsequently break them in half. On that first Thursday I made the mistake of giving her a full, new crayon, and in less than two minutes the thing was stripped of its paper and snapped in half.
          After seat work, all the students bring their chairs to the breakfast table to eat breakfast. Each student is also assigned a talking device that looks like an indestructible iPad that you can carry on your neck. Instead of having apps, though, the talker has pages and pages of icons that the students can press and the talker will say one word or a few words, depending upon which icon was selected and pressed. All of the students are supposed to make the talker say, "I want to eat," or "I want to drink" depending upon the situation. If the student actually says some of the words themselves, then that is even better. Once everyone is eating, it is usually quiet, save a random squeal that comes out of nowhere on occasion. But one morning, while everyone else was eating nicely, Az. was not getting what she wanted, and was very frustrated that she could not express herself in the way that she wanted to. And so, she proceeded to punch Ms. Liz, one of the assistant teachers, in the throat. Az. was immediately escorted to her time-out corner, with a red, padded mat stood up and one of the teachers sitting beside her to help calm her down and explain to her that what she did was wrong. Az. usually frequents the time-out corner multiple times a day, which is dubbed the "Red Roof Inn" because of the red mat that is put up around it. She usually gets put in there for hitting, kicking, or spitting on someone. If Az. gets riled up, it sometimes may take multiple teachers to be able to escort her to time-out. Getting back to breakfast, the kids usually either eat toast or cereal. Most of the kids that eat cereal eat theirs dry and drink juice with it. E. is the only student who asks for, and eats his cereal with milk.
          After breakfast, the students bring their chairs back to the main table to do calendar work. One of the teachers leads calendar time, it doesn't matter who. Each student first gets a laminated paper with the days of the week on one side and the months of the year on the other side. We all go through the days and months together, to the tune of a song. Next, we all count by ones up to 31, then by fives up to 100, and finally by tens up to 100. Every day that I sit next to Am. during calendar time, she always grabs my hand and makes me point to the days, months, and numbers instead of doing them herself. Once everyone hands their sheets back in, it is time to go to P.E. Each of the students has to make their talker say, "Go to P.E." which makes sure they know where they are headed, and to help with the transition. All the students carry their talkers around their necks and once they get to P.E., they set them down against the wall underneath their specific number. Every student does this right pretty much every time and then immediately begins to either walk or run around the gym doing laps. Kellen does really well with P.E. He usually runs and walks laps around the gym on his own, but covers his ears with his fingers to block out all the noise in the gym. P.E. time isn't Am.'s favorite time of the day because she may walk a lap or two, but when she is done, she is done. You will be holding her hand while she is walking, then all of a sudden she drops to the floor and crosses her legs, refusing to budge. This would be a major problem, but luckily she is extremely light and easy to pick up. But the bad thing is that when you lift her off the ground she keeps her legs folded, so that if you let go of her she will crash right back to the ground without any way to brace herself. Since we're not supposed to carry the kids around, we sometimes have to wait her out until she decides to get up and walk again. When upbeat music comes on, the kids all know that it is time for everyone to run. S. usually grabs my hand and makes me run with her when the music comes on and seemingly doesn't ever get tired. G. doesn't run at first, but once you tickle him, he takes off sprinting away from you, but keeps looking back to make sure that you don't get too close. When the music goes off, the kids all line back up against the wall under their numbers and the P.E. teacher leads them in various stretches. They do sit-ups, butterfly stretches, touch their toes, etc. After stretching, P.E. is over and we all walk to either art or music class.
          The students all really enjoy art and music class. In art, they all contribute to creating a large piece that is to be hung up and laminated on the walls in the front hall of the building or outside the art classroom. The students either paint the picture in class, or if the painting is done, outline the piece with markers to make the colors stand out more. In music, the music teacher has Pandora playing in the background, while he demonstrates to the students the beat he wants them to play on the drums or another instrument. After his demonstration, he passes the instrument to each of the students and they begin to play the instrument. Most of the time they do not replicate his beat, but they do their own thing which is totally acceptable.
          After art and/or music, we all return to class for small group time.  I usually lead a small group with some of the students where I set out a series of pictures, hand them some cards with corresponding words on them, and have the kids match the words to the pictures. On other days I have done some math work with Ka., as well as playing with shaving cream for sensory purposes with Kellen and the other kids. Small group time usually lasts about a half hour, then it's time for lunch. Some days we eat in the cafeteria, but lately we have been eating in the classroom. Since they are all usually pretty hungry, a hush usually falls over the room while they are eating.
         After lunch we go to recess, where I usually end up pushing Am. and Kellen while they swing for part of the time, and playing basketball with E. and some kids from another class for part of the time. Next up in the day is computer time back in the classroom when the kids play learning games on the computer. Am., S., and Ka. love the computers and could stay on them all day if they had the opportunity to. When computer time is over, we go back to group work for a while, then we take a walk around the school campus at 2:30. We come back inside, recuperate, and then we eat snack at 3:00. These kids love to eat so whenever food is involved, they are well behaved for the most part. After snack, the teachers take the students to the bathroom for the final time in the day, and at 3:30 the buses arrive and the kids all go home.
          Even though the days are long, and some of the screaming, hitting, kicking, and spitting gets on all of our nerves, I have learned so much by working in the class. I have gained an increased understanding of the disease that ails my brother, and I have gained more patience with him. I have learned more about how he learns and how to deal more effectively with some of the undesirable behaviors he exhibits. While helping out in Room 9 at Ackerman certainly was not the easiest thing I could have done for my May Project, but I'm very glad I decided to do it.

Hello All,
Let's get some blogging going so you can comment on each others posts.
Remember that we meet THIS WEDNESDAY at 4:00 and your blogs should be completed by then!
See you soon,
Ms. Jones

How are those May Projects going?

Hanna Kime: Contemporary Art Museum Saint Louis

Here we are in the middle of the first full week of May.
Hope your May Projects are off to a good start.
Please remember that blogging can count as your journal - or you can do a traditional journal.
Either way, I need 1500 words!
Ms. Jones