Into the Woods Stemersion 2019

May 16th 2019

Today was the first day of our “To the Woods” stemersion. We discussed what it meant to live deliberately. We came up with the idea that living deliberately meant to live in a way that will bring a purpose and opportunity for growth into your life. After we were done talking about this we moved on to going outside and playing a game to get to know each other. Next, we began talking about listening and observing nature. We went on a short walk and took time to sit quietly in an effort to listen to and observe the peacefulness of the world around us. At the end of the day we did yoga for around 30 minutes to relax after the day. It was really relaxing and a good time to get my thoughts in order. 

​

May 17th 2019

Today we talked about how poetry in nature can bring peace of mind. We wrote a haiga poem about the emotions we experienced outside taking pictures yesterday. After this we went on a field trip to Cox Arboretum in Dayton, Ohio.  We found three turtles in a pond named Richard, Clifford, and Douglass. We walked around the trails and had a lot of fun spending time in nature. We hiked on a lot of different trails and saw a lot of plants and wildlife. We went up to the top of a tree tower then ran down because it started to wiggle!

May 20th 2019

Today we began the day by hearing a mini lesson about water. We then split into groups of around 5 or 6 and had visitors employed by the Dayton water facility come to talk to us about the importance of clean water. First we went to a room where a woman talked to us about how water travels and gets back to us. It goes through the water cycle to begin, it then goes through a body of water and eventually to a water cleaning plant. Then we went to see a truck that uses a camera to go into pipes to discover any problems. After this we went into a van that was decorated to teach people some history about water and the importance of keeping it clean. We then went back inside to a group of three people who told us about their jobs in the water industry. Finally, we went back outside where two people taught us about water sampling and how they do their jobs! It was really fun and we learned a lot about water. We were going to go to a place to test water, but it ended up being too far so we turned around and ate our lunches!

May 21st 2019

Today we went to the Bellbrooke Canoe Rental and kayaked. We swam and my friend savanna ended up losing her shoes underwater in the mud! We ended  up jumping off a rope swing and swimming for a little bit. When my group got to an area where the water was calm we took a minute to be silent and listen to the soft sounds around us. It was really relaxing and helped us to come a bit more aware and comfortable with our surroundings. Towards the end a few people in my group began to get nervous that we were lost! We ended up finding our way and finished kayaking safely. When we got back to the school we did yoga to relax after a long day.