Hey All,

Just writing in to show a few photos of our community service on the farm.

Clay stacking wood.

Jess weeding the garden beds

Eric working on pulling sod clumps

Tracy, Matti, and Taylor weeding sod clumps out of the field

Hey Everyone,

I just wanted to write a quick update about our day yesterday. We got to get on my hometown creek run of the West Branch of the Deerfield River. This is an amazing, clean, fast class 3-4 run that I have been dying to bring the athletes on. The only problem was we didn’t have creek boats. So I called up Bruce Lessels and Greg Poehlein at Zoar Outdoor and they were gracious enough to lend us 6 creek boats for the run! We also got to paddle with some of the local highschoolers here Lukas and Dan! Those guys were awesome, bringing a new perspective to the group on the water and showing us down the creek with smooth lines and plenty of style. What an awesome afternoon!

The NRA crew picking up the boats at Zoar Outdoor

Hello everybody, we are now in Massachusetts, home of one of the teachers (Tino). Everything here is beautiful, we are camped next to a forest which is full of wildlife. Finally, I met up with my Spanish students, and we are now devoting time to completing the projects this semester.

This week in Spanish One we’re refining our pronunciation, for which we are working on a dialogue which we did in the first week of classes. We also recorded the dialogue of each student and we’ll see if the actual pronunciation is better than a few weeks ago.
In Spanish Two we are almost ready for our puppet show (three piglets). Alex and Clay are working on each of the characters in this presentation which will be soon on video. This week in Spanish Three, Taylor and I are working on reading comprehension, for which we are reading Hansel and Gretel.In Spanish Four we are practicing our Spanish a lot, and we do this with discussions and games in Spanish. I am very happy to be back with the group and glad to have had the possibility of classes through Skype (it’s an experience I will never forget).

  To the Droujko family- thank you, thank you, thank you for everything!! We had an amazing time in Niagara Falls. Our stay was brief, but jam-packed with fun activities. The definite highlight was a helicopter ride, courtesy of Jessica’s family’s Niagara Helicopters. All of the students got to experience an exciting ride high above the falls! Gazing down from our vantage inside the helicopter, we were able to take in all of the falls, from the white, airy foam twirling off the tops to the spectacular splashing on the rocks beneath. After our helicopter rides, we were given free passes to some of the attractions on Clifton Hill, the touristy section of Niagara. We wandered through Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum, the wax museum and the moving theater. Many of the kids were happy to be in a city, around people, sights, activities, and places to fill their bellies with tasty treats.

 Now we are with Tino’s family in western Massachusetts. It is so beautiful here- spring has arrived and the twisty dirt roads are canopied by trees that are so, so vibrantly green! The group will be running the Deerfield River, and Tino is especially excited to be taking the kids out on his home turf.

 AP exams we will be held this week, in the quiet sanctuary of a local school. Other than that, kids are preparing their brains for finals and finishing up projects. In five days, we will head back to West Virginia for the final stretch.

 Callie