Group Photo!

 

Choice day: Rock Climbing

 Another Thursday choice is using Keewaydin's amazing climbing building!

Student reflections:

I really loved rock climbin! It was a really fun activity to do on Thursday. I would recommend rock climbing because you can go bouldering and go on top rope. If I got to go to KEEC again, on Thursday I would rock climb! I got to go on top rope twice! - EC

 

For Thursday choice day we did rock climbing. At rock climbing we did bouldering and top rope and it was a lot of fun. This was super fun especially when Liam tried jumping from one hold to another and landed on his face. It was really funny, there was a pillar in the middle, he had one hold and then he jumped to the other hold attached to the middle, and he fell flat on his face. I’m surprised he didn’t hit his head on the ceiling. Another thing that happened was when I got 20 seconds on top rope, which made the week's record. Overall I really liked rock climbing, and it was a really enjoyable experience. Someday I would like to do it again. -DB 

 

 

Town Meeting

 One night during the week the campers participate in a role play of a town meeting dealing with a community issue effecting the town of "KEECville".

student reflections:

The town meeting was a cool part of Keewaydin. It simulated being in a town meeting but with animals and things that would not be there in real life. We got to choose a job or a thing to represent. I chose to be a real estate agent and others chose to be deer water and stuff like that. Then we were given a proposition. The proposition was to add a dam to our town. 

We went over the positives and negatives that went with our jobs, and how it would affect the town community. Then with our jobs we went over how in that point of view would you agree or disagree with this proposition. This is what happens at town meetings at Keewaydin.-EMG

 

 

Predator / Prey Game

On the last day students play a massive field game called Predator/ Prey.

Student reflections:

The predator prayer game was a very fun game. In the beginning, everyone grouped around the fire. The Keewaydin staff explained the rules for about 10 minutes.They gave you two pieces of colored duct tape. They explained what animal you were and where you were on the food chain. You were either a predator, carnivore, omnivore, bacteria, human or herbivore. I was was a carnivore and the carnivores could eat the omnivores and the herbivores and to eat somebody you had to tag them and then they’d give you their piece of duct tape and when you died, you’d go to the fire circle and you go out as a human and you could eat everybody including bacteria, which could eat the predator, the carnivore and the omnivore and that was my experience with the predator prey game.  -CM

During Friday morning we played a game, a real life simulation of the food web and I was a herbivore. At the bottom of the food chain everything was after me so we made groups to find the boards, the food board and water board. We need those two things to survive and to survive for 2 hours for when the gong rings signaling games over. So I was alone because of the carnivores so I had to run and find a group and I knew where the water board was. The problem was everyone was guarding it so I waited and waited then my friend showed me where the water was. I stamped myself with the water board stamp and when I was about to go for food I was chased for 20 minutes then the person gave up. I went back to get the food board I was about to stamp myself then the gong rings I haven’t survived, I had all my life tags but I didn't get food only water so we went back to the campfire had some trivia and we packed up and put our stuff on the bus and went home. -DWC 

 

 

Choice day: ALL Day Hike

 One fun choice on Thursday it to hike all day on the mountains surrounding the Keewaydin campus.

 Student reflections:

The all day hike was 10.5 miles which is 7 hours of hiking! I enjoyed watching William fall down the mountain cause he chose to run instead of walk so what happened was me and my group going down a steep hill. Suddenly William started running and I watched him trip. He tried staying up even when he ran through a fallen tree then he finally tripped fully from a rock wall as his knee hit the tree and the rocks he face planted. I laughed so hard but still asked if he was ok.-KB

 

For Thursday choice day, one of the options we could choose was an all day hike on Mt. Mooselamoo. This hike was all over the mountain, we got to see many beautiful views, and scenic paths. We had a fun time hiking in the woods and overall did a 10.5 mile hike. We saw pretty flowers on our way up, and on our way down we saw a really cool river with big boulders from glaciers long ago. When we got to a nice clearing where we could see a beautiful mountain in front of us we had lunch. It was nice to sit down after our long hike up. Once we were done with lunch we headed to the summit which was about thirty steps away from where we had lunch. There wasn’t even a clearing in the trees so it wasn’t that worth it. After that we headed down the mountain on the opposite side we came up. We saw many pretty plants. Once we had gotten pretty far down we had a snack by the river. We saw these gigantic boulders in the river that were from the giant glacier that was there long ago. Once we got back down we headed to camp with our sore legs, and the feeling that we just accomplished something amazing, plus we got bragging rights. - EL

The Views were so amazing and genuinely breathtaking, here is free advice: do NOT try to run down a mountain it hurts a lot I mean a lot. I fell more like tumble/rolled 6 feet. It hurts a lot. The hike was 10.5 miles long, 7+ hours up, down and around Mt. Mooselamoo.The hike was fun though definitely worth it.

-WL

 

 

Last Night Camp Fire

We capped an amazing week off with an entertaining camp fire led by two of the great KEEC staff, Will and Conner.   They performed a hilarious story that wove in the skits developed and presented by each study group.  It was a great night to conclude our fabulous week here at KEEC.  

 

Student reflections:

Will was my cabin counselor. Here he is at the last campfire. He is wearing a Scottish kilt. He has a good Scottish accent. He is a kind person and likes helping forest animals. -MO

 

I remember this time when I was at KEEC and it was one of my favorites that is why I'm writing about it.  My favorite part was when Conner and Will were acting about the stone having powers.  I also enjoyed that our group and the whole ⅚ made a skit and performed it at that same campfire. It was so fun and a good way to end the week. That is one of the reasons why Keewaydin was memorable. -SK

 

 

 

 

Choice Day: Morgan Horse Farm

 Another group today chose to visit a local Morgan Horse Farm.  

Student reflections: 

Thursday afternoon, we went to the Morgan Horse Farm. On the way, we blasted music singing it so loud no one could hear a thing. We got a couple of glares as people drove by. Connor and Ms. Grace went with us and I’m pretty sure we all had a blast, at least I did. We walked into the building and got our tickets from the shop to explore the farm. The girl that toured us apparently had never done this before, but I thought she did alright. First we looked at all the history of Morgan horses and it was really cool. There was also a Morgan horse skeleton that was a little creepy and a bunch of people couldn’t stop laughing about it.

 

Then we went to pet the horses. It was enjoyable petting them and really cool to see the horses. After that we went down the stairs and saw the horses that were going up to New York for a show. One of them just got bathed and it looked like it was going to charge out of there it was so mad. We all couldn’t stop laughing and Connor was shooting us glares telling us to stop, same with Ms. Grace. As we walked by that angry horse, we noticed a tiny cat. It was so cute and it followed us everywhere we went. Then we had to go through the indoor riding area, which was closed off before but then they opened it for us. Keep in mind the cat was still following us. As we made it out of that area, we went out to the statue of the first ever Morgan horse and took a photo. 

 

As we kept on walking, a new girl came with us and the other left. We went out back and the newer girl started to yell something but she had food in her hand so I think it was something about that. Soon a bunch of horses came and walked over. Two horses ran away after they saw us though, a baby and her mom. Then a huge group came by and started eating near us. There was a fence between us too. We watched them eat for a little and then the horses started to warm up to us. They came a little closer and me and one of my friends started petting the horse for two seconds but then someone came over and it stepped back.

 

Eventually all the horses came over and it was pretty obvious that they wanted to be pet by us. A couple of horses turned around and made us do butt scratches and my friends couldn’t stop laughing. It was so hilarious. Then after a ton of pets and butt scratches, our trip there slowly ended and we had to start going back. The horse farm was really interesting and super fun to learn about. Petting the horses and just seeing them was such an amazing opportunity because not too many people get to see horses too often and maybe some have never. Overall the horse farm was definitely one of my favorite experiences out of the whole week. Morgan horse farm was definitely an adventure I’ll never forget. -EA

 

When my group went to the MORGAN HORSE FARM! It was a lot of fun because we got to see and pet the horse. One of the baby horses would only let us pet her butt, if we tried to pet her on her face she would go away. It was very fun! -EM

When I was at KEEC [Keewaydin Environmental Education Center] I went to the Morgan horse farm. I had lots of fun! We got to pet horses, and we got to see a baby horse. We went with Grace and Conner. We learned some stuff about the horses, and how to weigh them. We saw a mother horse with her baby. We got to pet the baby horse, it was so cute!
- WLM 

I loved visiting the Morgan Horse Farm when the fifth and sixth graders of Chester-Andover Elementary School went to KEEC. We learned that they are strong. I liked the baby horse, or foal, and the mother horse, because they snuggled with me and that was nice. During this activity we saw and spent time patting more foals and mamas out in the pasture, they were all so cute.
- ER

 I had lots of fun at the morgan horse farm, even petting the horses. I hope next year, people will go to it. There were a lot of old things in there and I also heard there were horses with a trait that made them very strong. I heard another thing that those horses were used in WW2, how strong they were. I loved going there and I advise you go if you can too.
- KB

 

Choice day: murals and candle making

 Two other choices today were creating a mural and making candles.

Student reflections:

I had a really great time during murals on Thursday's choice activity as a lot of things happened. For starters, we got to draw whatever we wanted to, they allowed us to have creativity and make whatever. I was able to do a side quest and try and pet the geese that came across the land as well as trying to pick up a bumblebee, which I had failed at both. We also got to listen to music and the counselor had known a bunch of my favorite artists which was very cool!! I got to sing a lot since we were able to request songs while we painted which was very fun to do! Overall, it was a great choice activity that was both exciting and peaceful with lots of things going on!
- SS

This was a very fun experience! I liked making the mural and listening to music there!
It was very nice outside too. It was fun that we got to paint! We also got to play games when we finished. It also helps when some of your friends are in your choice day group too. It was a really fun experience to go to KEEC!
- ZM 

This was the best!! They let us make a candle and choose the color and scent, and not only that, we got to put cool patterns!! It was really cool because they did a little guessing game with the scents before starting, so we could test a few of the scents before the rest of the scents, to give us an idea of what the scents are going to be like. It was amazing to hang out quietly with friends and calmly make the candles and the designs. A really cool thing we did was have a little bit of crayon, a mold, a little piece of yarn or string with your scent on it, and hot wax, they let you mix the crayon and hot wax together, to make your color,and then put the string in the mixture, and after they bring it to a fridge to have cool down. After they cool down, they let you use a special type of candle marker, so you can make your own design!! I had the best time making the candle, and my family loves almost as much as me!!
- DK