Mural Painting

Wilderness Skills

Another Thursday choice selection.

Earth Art...

...also known as eARTh. Campers got creative with raw materials found in nature.

Candle Making

A bunch of campers chose to make candles on Thursday Choice Day.

Waste Watch and other announcements

At meals many announcements and directions are given. These include what you need for your next investigation, the weather for the day, and selected news items like sports scores and environmental news. One point of emphasis all week was reducing the amount of food wasted at meals. The kids have become very concerned and competitive about not leaving any food on their plates, even eating apples without leaving a core! The video below shows KEEC instructors using song and charts to build their caring, as well as a call to bring this idea of reducing food waste home to Chester-Andover. Don't waste the milk!

Happy Birthday!

Tonight's birthday celebration...

PS- You might want to turn your volume down, 100 kids can be loud!

Blogging on Bogging

This afternoon a group chose to investigate a nearby bog, a place where a thick layer of plant material, mostly moss, floats on a shallow body of water. As KEEC leader Matt put it "it is like trying to walk on a waterbed." We found Pitcher plants that attract bug to a sweat liquid then consume them for food! As usual the video shows our adventure better than a description. And it wasn't even buggy.....

The War Canoe

This afternoon a group took out the huge "war canoe" onto Lake Dunmore. Somehow a few brave (or lucky or unlucky) souls managed to find their way out of their seats and into the water. The story of how will have to be posted later because I was not in a canoe, I was out on a bog. More about that later...

Rock Climbing

Submitted by student:
"rock climbing was so much fun today, we were singing and having so much fun. I never thought that KEEC was going to be sooo much fun...I am going to miss it on Friday when we have to leave and I wish after friday we could come again because it is so much fun. But I will be happy kinda because I have not seen my family for a week, but I will miss the staff too because they are all so cool and nice."

All Day Hike: 5 caves, 1 waterfall and countless lookouts!

We had a fabulous time on the all day hike. We climbed Mount Moosalamoo to the Wiantanog Lookout and the Over Cliff Trail down to the Caves Trail to Generals Lookout. From there we climbed to Majors Lookout for lunch before heading to Josh's Cave. Josh's Cave has many chambers and the campers had a great time exploring. Next we headed to the Falls of Lana and back on the Ethan Allen Trail, past the infamous Ethan Allen Cave where the Green Mountain Boys hid Native American clothing to fool the New York tax collectors. A fabulous day!

Thurday Choice Day

Thursday is the day for kid choice activities, different from other days where study groups are assigned investigations. Today kids are off canoeing, hiking, making art, and learning wilderness skills. Jeanie is on the all day hike so posts today might be a little less than other days. We will try to catch up tonight.

X-Stream Hiking

A select group of kids chose X-stream hiking this AM for Thursday choice activities. This is using a stream bed as a path, hiking up the water, getting help from fellow KEECers, and of course getting wet and having fun. It was much cooler today, and some of us actually got cold for the first time. A good sunny rock was a perfect spot to chill and warm up.

Town Meeting

All campers participate in a town meeting here at KEEC. They are given a role to play in KEECville- the real estate agent, the soil, the deer, the children, the factory workers, etc. A developer pitches a plan to change KEECville in some way and the campers have an opportunity to ask questions about how the change will affect them (as the real estate agent, the soil, the deer, etc.). Ultimately campers get to vote on the proposal and explain their point of view. Did you know that Vermont is the only state that allows children to speak up at town meeting? How cool is that!

Storms cap off Wednesday

Right as KEECers got back to their cabins for bed line of thunderstorms moved in to our lake valley. It was a beautiful sight as the neighboring mountains were lit up by lightning. Everyone made it through, the only casualty was the tee pee in the field which was blown over I tried to be some of it on video, beginning with our last look at the full moon.

Quiet time

Every day after lunch kids get a good chunk of time to chill out, read, write letters home, or nap in their cabin bunks. These photos are from Fox cabin on Wednesday.

Hot Days and cooling down

Wow what a scorcher here at KEEC today. We have been pushing fluids, finding shade, and looking for unique opportunities for a cool down, like a sprinkler.....
We also went swimming before dinner, pictures of that to come later, I was in the water too!
Thunderstorms are looming on the evening sky, bringing cool weather for our last full day!YAY!
-Jeremy Kelloway

Trees wonderful trees part II

In the afternoon group 3 took trees a step further, investigating how humans use them, and how Vermonters in the past cut them to make charcoal. We learned about sawyers and coilers, people that cut trees and slow burned them in mounds to make charcoal on the mountainside by KEEC. later we came back and tried to build our own charcoal mound out of sticks, leaves and mud.
Again the video and pictures do it more justice than I.
-Jeremy Kelloway

PS Thank you for all the great comments, they are very motivating!

The Gong Show

How do kids know when to do their job, come to dinner, or wake up? The gong of course! So turn down your volume and see a CAES kid try her hand.

Trees wonderful trees part I

This morning group 1 went out to explore and understand a little bit more about the trees all around us. We thought of ways to seperate types of trees, learning the differences between coniferous and deciduous. The group acted out the function of the inner parts of the tree in a group activity. We create some lovely 'clouds' of pine pollen, then students became experts about one type of tree and taught there group mates. We finished by using our non-vision senses to find a mystery tree pick out by a partner. But enough of my take, here are some photos and video to bring it to life.
-Jeremy Kelloway

Household Hazardous Products

A bunch of kids have been exploring alternatives to the hazardous products we use to clean our homes. Here are some recipes recommended by C. P. in sixth grade:

Toilet cleaner: sprinkle baking soda and vinegar in toilet and let it sit. Scrub with toilet brush.

All purpose cleaner:
2 tsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. Borax
Put these two ingredients into a 16 oz. spray bottle. Fill with hot water and shake until the Borax has dissolved.

Stain remover:
1/4 cup liquid castille soap
1/3 cup water
Blend ingredients and apply to stain. Scrub until foamy and let sit for a while. Rinse.

Water exploration

The campers have been exploring water in swamps, bogs and wetlands. We've also been insisting that they drink water- lots of it! And they hope to be swimming in the lake later today.

Thinking, learning, journaling...

Another groups makes it to Pitch Pine Point!

Ask your camper why there are pitch pines- a very rare tree in Vermont- in this particular location.

Random snapshots of KEEC