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Felipe

Friday, November 11th, 2011

Felipe with the ladies

There are many new and eventful things that we get to experience every day at New River Academy. The second day we arrived in Chile we met Felipe, who would be our cook for the first two weeks. Luckily for us he does not speak one word of English. This gives us all a great opportunity to practice our spanish. When I first arrived in Chile my spanish was close to non existent. As the days when on I was able to spend more and more time with Felipe. It is easy to practice spanish with someone that you get to see three times a day and sometimes more. When you both don’t speak each others languages it makes you learn.

I quickly learned that as a non spanish speaker, the only way to survive in Chile is to use your hands to describe things. Even though my spanish is not very good and Felipes english is terrible we still manage to communicate with each other. Felipe is a professional Titiritero, or in english, a Puppeteer. He is now teaching the art class how to make puppets out of the trees in the Maipo Valley. When I asked him, What thing brings you the most joy in the world? His response was, “Seeing the smiles on the Children’s faces when I putting on a Puppet show.”

Felipe in front of the Restaurant

Felipe is originally from Santiago but has spent a lot of time traveling. A few places he has been are Germany, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Costa Rica, Bolivia and Brazil. When I asked him out of all these places witch was his favorite he said “Brazil, because the people are so beautiful”. Both of his parents are from Chile and he has one younger sister who lives on the border of Chile and Peru.

Felipe and I about to get into a wrestling match

Felipe lives a very simple life style and I envy him for it. He is every well connected with nature and his inner self. He has been showing us that there is an energy that flows throw everything. In the mornings when he leads work out he makes us do things like feel each individual muscle and how to strengthen them. We have been stretching muscles that I didn’t even know I had. We will be sad to leave Felipe behind and wish he could come with us for the rest of our trip.

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New River Breakfast Hike at Rio Maipo

Saturday, November 5th, 2011

In Chile everything is an adventure, even our walk to breakfast. In the morning after our daily AM workout, we begin the journey to breakfast at our very own Spanish teacher: Carla Astorga’s house. Our hike begins down a steep dusty hill behind our camp. This rugged trail takes us to the main road, which leads us to the first bridge we must cross in order to make it to Carla’s.

Each morning we hike across the Maipo, past the hawk and cougar cages, and past the horse corral en route to our morning breakfast at Carla's home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This bridge is always locked from the rest of the resort because Carla’s family lives on the other side of the bridge, so we all have to wait for the key and cross together as a group.

Peering through the gate you can see the small bridge crossing the Rio Maipo.

 

As we cross through the small gate we come alive. The light of the sun seeping through the colossal mountains hits our faces and everyone begins running back and forth across this bridge.

New River Academy students zig and zag as they goto breakfast crossing the Rio Maipo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The swaying of the wooden plank suspension bridge is enough to make you feel like you are on a boat in the middle of the ocean. Below us you can see the quick flowing, brown Maipo River.

One of the majestic birds that we cross paths with each morning on the way to eat.

 

 

 

As we step off the bridge, directly around the corner, to the right, is a cage of hawks.

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Procrastination. It sucks

Friday, November 4th, 2011

Procrastination is something that every teenager excels at, but is something that every teenager also tries to avoid. Procrastination always ends up being a stupid waste of time, either sitting down doing nothing prolonging the homework or assignment or having fun then rushing it at the last minute. No matter which one it is, procrastination sucks, even though we think it may be good and let us have fun at the time being, procrastination will just cause you undue stress and as said earlier makes your work really crappy and rushed instead of thought out and well paced. So try not to procrastinate, and have fun, but do your work ahead of time either in small sequences or all of it at once early, because then you will not have to worry about it and you will end up doing better work, try it sometimes and see the difference.

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NRA’s KNOT AFRAYED | Ropes and Knots for every Kayaker

Monday, October 31st, 2011
Close up of the “z” in Z-drag. Notice the prussik, used to connect the rope via a carabineer.

 

Before coming to Chile, New River Academy was fortunate enough to get to do an awesome rescue course with resident West Virginia expert Moose.  For more on this course, check out Sara’s blog here: <http://www.newriveracademy.org/kayakblog/knots-and-safety-day/>

Not only did Moose teach the students the skills they would need to do a vertical lower or an extraction, perfect for some of the canyons we will be paddling in over the next few semesters, but he took the time to go over some of the more important basic knots that every kayaker should know.

Moose strung a throwline across our training camp, and gave each student a piece of  7 mm cord to use. The first knot that Moose had us tie was a figure 8 follow through, useful for anchoring, and for climbers. This is one of the more basic knots, named for the “8” shape it has when tied properly.

We also learned a water knot, which is the best way to tie a piece of webbing into a loop: not only is it the strongest knot, it is easy to see that it has been tied properly. The knot should be a nice flat triangle with tails coming out of opposite directions.

To tie a piece of rope together into a loop, it is best to use a double fishermans knot. You might recognize this knot from friendship bracelets as a kid. The trick to this knot is to flip it over when you tie the second side, to make sure that your “barrels” and your “x’s” line up!

Once you have a piece of rope tied into a loop with a double fisherman’s knot, you are perfectly set up to begin tying a Prussik. Prussiks are used as brake knots, and also for connecting two pieces of rope to each other via a carabineer when setting up a Z drag.

When you don’t have a prussic cord handy, you can also tie an Alpine Butterfly.  Moose showed us how to use the Alpine Butterfly to create multiple anchor points in a rope. We can use the anchor points to attach a kayak to the rope, in case we need to lower a boat down a drop, or extract a boat out of a canyon.

A useful knot for lowering or rappelling a load such as a boat is the Munter Hitch, created by looping a piece of rope over a carabineer. The cool thing about this knot is that it is reversible, meaning it can flip over the carabineer, moving from a knot that can be used to ascend, from a knot to be used for descending. Careful though! This is why you never want to use a Munter Hitch to ascend or descend a person.

To help make your munter hitch even safer, add a prussik on (connecting the rope to the carabineer) to act as a brake.

For more information on knots, and for a breakdown on how to tie some of the knots listed here, head down to Fayetteville and ask for Moose.  Or, check out this website : http://www.slideshare.net/abdullah.sachwani/basic-rescue-knots-1152563

 

Munter Hitch: Used for belaying, ascending and descending a load, not a person!

For  photos on the knots mentioned above, scroll down!

Figure 8 Followthrough, or Figure 8 on a bite. Good for attaching to a Z drag to your load, or for tying off a person into a harness for rapeling.

Best for tying a piece of rope/cord into a loop. Once tied, this becomes the loop for your prussik! Note that the "x'"s line up on the same side.

Bowline with a single fisherman stopper. Useful for tying off rafts.

Moose demonstrates how to tie a Mule Hitch, great for tying off a munter hitch quickly. Originally used to tie off horses and mules, designed to let them go quickly incase of a problem.

 

Pulling on a munter hitch, with a prussik brake.

Using the Alpine Butterfly to create attachment points in our rope for a kayak.

Prussik Knot. Used as brake knot, especially in Z-drags

Water Knot: Best for tying a piece of webbing into a loop, useful for creating anchors.

 

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Tygart River Outting + NRAO National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Sunday, October 23rd, 2011

Hey guys its Drew Mceachern from NRA here. Last week,  the whole school went out to the Tygart river for a chance to run a new river. We all had a good time on the river, and a few of our students got to run their 1st waterfall. Almost all the students ran the waterfall, it was great! We also found some good play spots holes to loop in and waves to surf. The water on the Tygart was really cold but no one complained as we all just were happy to be out there! It was a great day and I can’t wait to run the Tygart again!

After the Tygart the school headed to NRAO ( National Radio Astronomy Observatory). Once there we learned how to use the 40 foot telescope. The night we all had shifts where we would have to go and record what we found. Over all it was a great trip!

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Trash Talk | New River Academy Kayak School takes the time to clean up the banks of the rivers they love

Sunday, October 23rd, 2011

Sometimes, studying the many challenges that our current world faces in an Environmental Science class can be overwhelming and a bit defeating, but in reality, it is important to remember that everyone really does have the power to take action in addressing these large challenges every day. After taking a hefty mid-term, Alex Fleischut, Hayley Stuart, Eric Bartl, Galen Volckhausen, Drew Mceachern, and I journeyed down to the New River Dries to pick up trash. Taking the time to clean up a place that is home to one of the best waves in the world when it rains in the spring, is one of our after school cliff jumping, swimming, and “bum slide” spots in the fall, and is just five minutes away from New River Academy’s West Virginia base was certainly worth it!

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Creative Non Fiction and Texture Writing | Unconventional Classroom equals Creative Learning

Thursday, October 13th, 2011

How do you make english class fun? How about with a grab bag full of treats!

Currently in Honors English, we are working on a creative non fiction unit. For one of class activities, we decided to focus on “texture.” I brought in a pillowcase filled with all kinds of goodies, and had Alex Muck dive her hand in blind, grab a hold of one item, feel it, and creatively describe its texture, the emotions it evoked, and what ever else came to mind. Items in the grab bag included a well worn leather belt, a gold ring, a mini snickers bar, a bottlecap, an acorn, silly putty, and a  feather boa, along with a few others. Here are two of our favorite blurbs from class, written by Alex Muck. See if you can match the object to the story! Enjoy!

“It feels like food,” I say, getting a chuckle from Anna, my teacher. Why though? Why does the crinkle of cellophane, and the sense of a dense, rounded rectangle invoke the thought of food? Only in America, I think. In other countries, food probably feels like particles of rice or the firm smooth skin of fruit. But why does this feel like food? And why does that fact make me uneasy?

Here, I think, is an object of contradictions. It is at once smooth and rough. A quarter sized circle of smoothness brushes across my palm. A corrugated edge nips at my thumb. My nail rides across the inside of the dish catching on a ridge. The whole thing feels like a pie plate sized for a dollhouse.

* photos by Anna Bruno.

 

 

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School at NRA | Mixing Kayaking fun and Classwork

Thursday, October 13th, 2011

I love my classes at NRA! Who needs lots of 45 minute periods when you can do school and go kayaking?

 

English Class at NRA’s Ottawa base. Learning never looked so fun!

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Looking Back on the Ottawa River trip

Wednesday, September 21st, 2011

This is a American Literature report that I did reflecting on our time here on the Ottawa River.

 

Alex Fleischut

American Literature

9/20/11

 

Learning Something New

 

One would think that at a kayaking boarding school, all you would learn is how to kayak. However, at New River Academy, that is not the case. Here at New River Academy, I have learned not only new kayaking skills but about myself, the team, and everyone around me. The new kayaking skills will be great but I will be more grateful later in life for learning life lessons at New River Academy.

At New River Academy, you learn more in each hour long class than you would at a week at a normal school. That is due to the classes being very small. Learning at New River Academy is easy. It seems as though the teachers want to teach here and that they want to see you do well on and off the river. The teachers at New River Academy are stellar. Their attitudes towards school, kayaking, and life in general are amazing. They are truly good role models on and off the river.

New River Academy is a kayaking boarding school so it is expected that you will be doing a lot of kayaking. Like in the classroom, you learn so much on the river because the team is only twelve students. I came to the school not knowing too much about freestyle but I am leaving the Ottawa River with so many new skills such as a blunt. The instructors, also our teachers in the classroom, enjoy teaching us and like to see us be happy. The environment at New River Academy is excellent.

The students at New River Academy are very supportive and they make the environment very family focused. At New River Academy, we all treat each other like brothers and sisters. We all care about each other and do not judge one another. The environment is such that you can be yourself. It has only been three weeks but I already feel like the people here at New River Academy will be lifelong friends. The students also value each other as team members.

My time at the Ottawa was filled with new experiences. I got to ride some big waves and try my hardest each and everyday. Though my time at the Ottawa River was short, I learned so much about myself. I learned how to deal with others positively and how to have fun and be content at the place I am at in life. I am a much bigger creeker than playboater so I did not enjoy myself in the beginning. However, after talking with the staff, I became happier with the Ottawa River and spending time with others around me. Though I will miss playboating, I look forward to running some stout creeks with the boys and growing relationships with everyone. I am thankful that the trip started out here on the Ottawa River and I am thankful that I had the opportunity to come to New River Academy!

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New River Academy Switches to “Long School Day” Mode

Monday, September 19th, 2011

It’s a sad thought to leave the Ottawa.  But I always like it when students are happy to stay in a place longer as that means they are happy with where they are in life.  This morning Associate Head of School Chris Smith and I mapped out the WV leg of our quarter.

Students will have a “long school day” intermixed with full days on the river during our West Virginia leg. It’s an intense academic schedule that with proper time management is can be productive.

Below you will find school and river days and how they work together.

The Gauley is a long day on the water requiring two and a half hours of shuttle and a minimum of ten miles of paddling.  This means we need a full day on the river for safety and feeling of being relaxed on the water.  It also means we utilize our 90-min class schedule to meet mandated hour requirements.   With 7 periods (90-min) that’s 10.5 hours of school.  So, we’ll opt to have one period each river day to make the school day work.

Here’s how the school hours will work:

Wed 9/21       Drive to Niagara Falls:  Niagara Helicopters Tour compliments of Reudi Haeflin and Lena Droujko

Tour Niagara Falls area

Thur 9/22      Niagara Whirlpool Jetboats Tour:  Compliments of Joe Kowalski Wilderness Tours

Drive to WV base.

Fri 9/23          6 periods (90 min) School

Sat 9/24          1 period + Gauley

Sun 9/25         6 periods (90 min) School

Mon 9/26        1 period + Gauley

Tue 9/27          6 periods (90 min) School

Wed 9/28        6 periods (90 min) School

Thur 9/29        1 period + Gauley

Fri 9/30            6 periods (90 min) School

Sat 10/1            SAT Exams or  1 period + Gauley

Sun 10/2           6 periods (90 min) School

Mon 10/3         6 periods (90 min) School

Tue 10/4            Tygart Falls + Hotel near Elkins

Wed 10/5          Field Trip:  Greenbank Radio Telescope

Thur 10/6         Field Trip:  Greenbank Radio Telescope

Fri 10/7             1 Period + Yough Day near Deepcreek Lake

Sat 10/8            6 periods (90 min) School

Sun 10/9           1 period + Gauley

Mon 10/10       1 period + Gauley

Tues 10/11     6 Periods (90 min) School

Wed 10/12     6 Periods (90 min) School

Thur 10/13    Gauley/School based on Mid-Term Needs of Individual

Fri 10/14       Gauley/School based on Mid-Term Needs of Individual

Sat 10/15      Fly Home for Fall Break

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New River Academy
Rt. 2 Box 245
Fayetteville, WV 25484
(304)- 574-0403
Fax: (304) 513-2247
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