Parent Council Meeting This Wednesday!

Journeys School holds a parent council meeting once per trimester. This meeting is for all parents and is held in the Education Center from 6:30 pm until 7:30 pm. The agenda is as follows:

• Welcome and agenda
• Nate/Rhonda’s Administrative section (12th grade capstone presentations, enrollment announcement, accreditation)
• Committee breakout sessions

1.       Annual Fund Committee Brainstorm – How can we increase parent participation?

2.       Parent Education Committee –– what event(s) can the Parent Council sponsor for the spring in terms of parent education.

3.       Teacher Support Committee – what are other ways to recognize, thank and support teachers in lieu of gifts?

4.       Parent Network Group –formalize a calendar of parent gatherings within level

• Committees report back to big group
• Adjourn

We hope to see you there!

January Lunch Menu 

January 26th:

Grilled Cheese on Whole Grain Bread

Homemade Tomato Soup

Orange Slices

Chocolate Chip Cookies

After School Program Schedule for January 22nd- January 25th

Monday: Build Snow Sculptures

Tuesday: Swimming @ the Rec. Center

Wednesday: "Popcorn & a Movie" Featuring: Chicken Run(G)

Thursday: Ice Skating at the outdoor rink @ Snow King

Please let me know in advance if you would like to sign your child up for this activity.  If your child does not have their own skates, I will need to know their shoe size prior to Thursday afternoon.

Wilderness First Responder Re-certification

Are your wilderness medicine protocols on the tip of your tongue or in the bottom of your pack? The Jackson Campus of Teton Science Schools will be hosting a Wilderness First Responder Re-certification course February 16 – 18, 2007. This three day, scenario-based course taught by staff from Wilderness Medicine Institute of the National Outdoor Leadership School (WMI of NOLS) is designed as review and practice of evacuation and decision making guidelines. It also provides wilderness medicine practitioners with current updates in the wilderness medicine field. Adult WMI of NOLS CPR is included. For more information, please contact Bethany Hanna at (307) 733-1327 ext. 1135 or Bethany.Hanna@tetonscience.org.

Teton County Library Announcements

25 January, Thursday

Dog Sled Adventures with Maria Hayashida. 7-8 p.m. Jackson resident Maria Hayashida shares the inside track on dog sled racing, mountain climbing and retracing the original Iditarod dog-sled route in Alaska during this program for families with children ages 6 and up. Hayashida will bring her dog sled and winter survival gear along for the ride. Cost: Free. Location: Ordway Auditorium. Contact: Youth Services, 733-2164 ext. 103.

29 January, Monday

Steve Dunbar: Big Science at the End of the Earth. 7-8 p.m. Find out why the South Pole is the only place on earth where you can hear the planet’s core rotate or why it might be the best place to see neutrinos, as Antarctic veteran Steve Dunbar explains major scientific research underway in Antarctica. Cost: Free. Location: Ordway Auditorium. Contact: Oona Doherty, 733-2164 ext. 135.

30 January, Tuesday

Y.E.L.P. – Young Extremely Literary People. 4-5 p.m. Young Extremely Literary People in grades six to 12 gather for this monthly book club to learn about the latest new young adult titles and share great reads. No assignments! No pressure! Teens always welcome to just listen and enjoy light snacks. Cost: Free. Location: Ordway Auditorium. Contact: Lara Lovett, 733-2164 ext. 221, llovett@will.state.wy.us.

Pre-Kindergarten

Announcements

Thanks

Thanks again to Nancy Lee for coming in to help clean the classroom and reorganize the mudroom.

Thanks to Joann Honigman for donating a shelf and basket for the studio.  The studio is space is coming together nicely.

Thanks to Vonde Smith, Bryan Ulmer and Cathy Kehr for assisting children during community lunch, extra hands at this time on Fridays is very valuable and it is a nice time to be able to have lunch with your child.

Thanks to parent skiers, Cathy Kehr, Remy Levy, Beatrice Howard, Phil Coosaia, and Jeanne Ball, for coming to Snow King to assist children. It was a very fun and successful first ski day.  Thank you!

Thanks to Remy Levy and family for their continued interest and work on our block area.  Warren has been organizing materials to play with, while Remy has donated the new trim. 

Scholastic Book Orders

If you are interested in ordering books from Scholastic, please make checks out to Teton Science Schools and place them in the manilla envelope on the sign-in table by Wednesday the 24th of January.

Hear He, Hear He!  Come One; Come All to the Castle Market!

At 1:30pm on Monday, January 29th booths will be open in the Educator Center.  If you are interested in purchasing goods, please bring in cat food, cat litter and/or raw hide bones to donate to Teton County Animal Shelter. Some of your children will be acting as bankers to collect your donations and disperse market money that can be use to buy goods.  Many goods will be on sale, including: candles, bread, horse shoes, weaving, stain glass windows, plants, paper products and a unique opportunity to get your picture taken on a throne with a crown!  Come enjoy and celebrate your child’s interests and accomplishments.

Parent Zone

Question: Do you share information and observations with kindergarten teachers for kids who will be moving up to K-2?

Yes. During summer preparation meetings, the Pre K faculty meets with the Journeys K-2 faculty to specifically discuss each student moving from Pre K to kindergarten.  This time is used to talk about student interests, affinities, strengths, and challenges so that the K-2 teachers may “pick up where we left off”. This communication is not limited to a single summer meeting, as teachers often use each other as resources while striving to best serve each of their current and past students throughout the school year.

Question: Is there an option for four year olds to attend 5 days a week or do we choose between 2 or 3 days?

Beginning next year, families can give their preference of 2, 3, or 5 days a week, no matter how old their child is. Teachers give recommendations as to how many days we feel each child should come. Families with children who are already enrolled in Pre-K have their preference over students who have not yet been enrolled.

Question: How do the four year olds compare, relative to the time they spend at school-do the kids that go 5 days a week seem to get more from the program and how so?

As teachers, we have seen the consistency of a 5 day program as beneficial to our students. When a child comes 5 days a week, the routine of getting to school and being at school becomes a pattern that they enjoy. Students who come 5 days a week get to take part in several extracurricular activities such as Dancers Workshop, Art Association, Skiing at Snow King, the public library, etc. Teachers have noticed that students who come 5 days a week tend to be more involved in our long term projects. This is not to say that students who come 2 or 3 days do not benefit from our curriculum. All students are served well, no matter their choice of days. The choice of days depends on each individual child and his or her family dynamics.

Curricular Updates

Sign Language

Carrie Kirkpatrick, Lyla’s mom, has been coming into the classroom once a week to teach sign language.  This past week, children practiced the alphabet, the colors of the rainbow and how to sign their name. Sign language is a beautifully visible language that the children are picking up quickly.  Thank you Carrie for offering this to us and the children; we are all excited to learn and use sign language.  If you are interested in learning more about sign language or trying to use it at home, check out this website: www.starfall.com

Castle Market

We continued to prepare for the castle market last week by making paper mache bowls and creating hats to wear at this special event.  Many children worked with Anna throughout the week to paper mache balloons and then painted the dried product to create a decorative and delicate bowl. These bowls will be available for purchase on Market Day.  

In the studio, Erin continued to work with children individually to design hats to wear at the Market. Children researched hat styles in the castle books throughout the room and found very unique and individualistic fashions to construct.  The newest hats include: a “defender” hat by Sean Groenstein to ward against tickling, a knight hat with feathery horns by Henry Munro, and a completely original hat made solely by Zander Ulmer.  Students have shown a great deal of dedication to their creations and continue to come back to the studio to add more personal touches.

Mandy worked with several students to begin creating a throne for the market. The throne will serve as a photo opportunity for any market attendees to sit on the throne and get their picture taken. Molly, Rowan, and Gabriel had great ideas about how to design the backdrop of the throne. We will continue working on the throne this week.

Mapping and Tracking

Checkout the new dry erase board and see if you can locate the kitchen and studio.  Your children can!  Charlie made a floor plan map of the classroom on the dry erase board to use at morning meetings and gathering times.  Friday morning during meeting Charlie plotted footprints on the board and students were asked to determine who made those tracks around the classroom.  In the next coming weeks we will be investigating tracks of animals both in Coyote Cannon and in other places in our community.

Announcements

Thank You:

• to K-2 parents who have been great about sending children to school dressed appropriately on these Wyoming winter days.
• Walt Foley and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort for taking the time to inform all of our Alpine skiers of important safety guidelines and the responsibility code while they are skiing!
• to all parent volunteers for our winter ski program, both Alpine and Nordic.

How am I getting home?

This is a common question in K-2! Please make sure your child knows how he/she is getting home each day. If the mode of transportation is different than usual, we ask that you please put a note in your child’s folder to avoid confusion at the end of the day. Thanks!

Eating and Reheating

If you send lunches that need heating, please make sure they are already made and that your child just needs to warm it in the microwave (vs. needing to cook the entire meal). We want students to have plenty of time to eat!

Early to bed

With skiing season upon us, we tend to have many tired students on Thursdays.  Please be sure your child gets a good night sleep before and after ski days to avoid exhausted Thursdays! 

A Message about Important Messages

Individual teachers do not always have time to check their voicemail throughout the day, so important messages should either be sent to Rhonda or you may call 733-3729 x1061 and leave a message. Messages are checked on this phone every day around 2:45 before heading down to the pick up circle.

Curricular Updates

K-2 Celebrates Diversity

Last Monday, our community thoroughly enjoyed the celebration of diversity and the very important and powerful words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We started the day by reading Martin’s Big Words, The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport, which led to a discussion about civil rights, which then led to hearing children’s rights at home and at school! Then, these rights were thoughtfully transferred into students’ dreams for the world. Here are a few from our extremely insightful K-2 students, “to see animals”, “to have health for family and friends”, “to be nice to each other”, “to not pollute the Earth”, “to end war”, “to have peace for the world”, “to be honest”, and “to give love to everyone, including people we don’t know”. Each child also made their very own dream catcher which he/she will be bringing home soon, as students are very anxious to put them to the test.

Modifications to our Literacy Program

As was discussed at our Curriculum Night last week and in a letter that went home a few weeks ago, we have modified our literacy program in K-2. For those of you who missed the meeting or the letter, here is another brief summary of the program. Our modified program is influenced by the work of Kathy Collins, author of Growing Readers: Units of Study in the Primary Classroom and instructor at the Summer Institute on Teaching of Reading at Teachers College, Columbia University. As Kathy Collins writes, "We need to teach children how to read, but we also need to teach them how to fall in love with reading. We need to teach children the skills and strategies that strong readers use, but we also need to teach them the reading habits that they will keep long after they leave our classroom."

Our goal is to create a learning environment that will support all students in building good reading habits, using strategies to figure out words and thinking and talking about books together. Another goal is to support young writers in conveying their wonderful ideas in print and in a way that will allow others to enjoy their creative ideas. 

We hope to accomplish these goals through the implementation of reading and writing workshops. Each teacher facilitates a group of 6-7 students for 90 minutes each day (except Wednesday). During this time, teachers use mini-lessons to introduce reading and writing strategies and concepts. For example, during the month of January, workshop groups are focusing on picking out “just right” books (books at students’ personal independent reading levels), summarizing, working with a reading partner, and strategies useful in figuring out words. This 90 minute block also includes a read aloud, “just right” reading, individual conferencing, discussion, as well as word study, handwriting, and writing. On some days, students may spend half of this time working on a writing assignment. While on others, they may spend 15 minutes on handwriting and 15 minutes on recognizing patterns in words. Each student is working at his or her own level in both reading and writing—allowing for an even more individualized program. Each month, teachers will send out a letter outlining the goals of the month. Each week, students will bring home reading or word study that supports the work they are doing in their literacy group. As always, please contact your child’s advisor if you have any questions or concerns.

Announcements

Thank You

Thank you to all of the parents who helped with our second ski day last Wednesday. Very special thanks are also owed to all of the families who helped us out with our Around the Town journey last week: the Hawks, the Slaughters, the Garlands, the Bryans, Cynda Peralta-Ramos, the Fenns, the Tompkins, Cathy Smith, Stuart Lang, Neal Vohr, Steve Moore, the Fields, and Silvia Davila.

Grades 3-5 Parent Council

Parents, please join us for a Grades 3-5 Parent Council Meeting on the evening of February 1 from 5:00-6:00 p.m. The focus of this meeting will be integration of curriculum in Grades 3-5. We will also discuss our upcoming production of the musical Freedom Bound. Please plan to attend.

Parent Help

If you are interested in helping to put together a Grades 3-5 book of dreams for our world, please contact Laura at extension 1121.

Ski and Ride Program

The Journeys School Ski and Ride Program will continue this Wednesday, January 24. Once again, Grades 3-5 students will meet down by the Welcome Center in the morning. Students will put their school backpacks in the Education Center, and depart for the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort at 8:20 a.m. We will return to school around noon and continue with a regular day of school. Please send your child to school with a regular lunch and his/her folder on ski days. Children are required to wear a helmet if they plan to downhill ski or snowboard. Also, please label every piece of your child’s gear with his/her full name. Please contact Ryan Bolton at extension 1138 with questions about the Ski and Ride Program.

Curricular Updates

Freedom Bound

The Grades 3-5 musical, Freedom Bound, is off and running! Each reading workshop group has read the play in “Readers’ Theater” fashion, practicing skills including projection, annunciation, and reading with intonation. Students have been working hard in music class to learn the songs, and were very excited to hear casting announcements last week. Every child in Grades 3-5 will have a speaking or solo singing part in the production in addition to participating as a member of the chorus. Please take the time to emphasize the importance of every role, big or small, with your child. Students are expected to have their lines committed to memory by Monday, January 29. The performance of Freedom Bound will take place on Thursday, February 15 in the Dining Lodge from 5:00-6:00 p.m. Families and friends are encouraged to attend. Please stay tuned to Basecamp News and subsequent Monday letters for additional information about this exciting project!

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration

Grades 3-5 students spent last Monday morning honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by learning about the diversity and commonalities within our community. After reading books about and discussing the civil rights movement, students were asked the following question: “If you were alive during the civil rights movement, is there any event in which you would have wanted to participate?” After some quiet reflection and small group discussions, the majority of students stated that they would have participated in sit-ins, passing out flyers to advertise the bus boycott, and marching. A few said they would have been willing to go to jail and/or participate in Freedom Rides. Please ask your child to tell you what they chose.

Students also explored the diversity of their classmates by finding commonalities and differences within small groups of students. Each student chose two individual characteristics that were unique to him/her and wrote them on colorful paper links. All of the links were connected to create a long and beautiful Grades 3-5 diversity chain. A few examples of what students wrote on their links are written below:

I’ve lived in Mexico.
I am Italian.
I have traveled outside of the United States.
I have blue eyes.
I like to ski.
I like to snowboard.
I don’t have any pets.

At the all-school Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration, Grades 3-5 students presented their diversity chain and recited the Shel Silverstein poem, “No Difference.”

No Difference
By Shel Silverstein

Small as a peanut
Big as a giant,
We’re all the same size
When we turn off the light.

Rich as a sultan,
Poor as a mite,
We’re all worth the same
When we turn off the light.

Red, black, or orange,
Yellow or white,
We all look the same
When we turn off the light.

So maybe the way
To make everything right
Is for us to just reach up
And turn off the light!

Announcements

Please remember that students should have warm clothes to be able to brave the cold and enjoy our time outside during recess. Remember also that classes may go outside on any day and students must be prepared for cold days in the field. This includes proper gloves and hats in addition to coats, boots and multiple layers.

Thank you

Thank you to Jean Jorgenson for the loan of her World War II books as well as the donation of two videos on Pearl Harbor. The students will put these resources to use in our upcoming World War II unit.

Thank you to Blanca and Montse Bernal, and Lyndsay McCandless for bringing personal perspectives to our visit of the "Porque" exhibit at the McCandless Contemporary Gallery last Monday.

Curricular Updates

Single-Gender Learning Experiment:
Karl, Jo and Chris are very excited to be trying a different sort of multi-age learning experience for the middle school students this trimester during the science/social science classes on Wednesdays. On the first day of the split class, we discussed perceived benefits and disadvantages of being a member of a single-gender class that we will revisit at the end of the term. We then discussed possible stereotypes that could play into the image of an all-boys or all-girls class. We will also revisit predictions about how the classes will be similar or different. The students have been very excited to try this type of classroom dynamics. Veronica reminded us all that assumptions about our particular group of girls and boys are due to the particular personalities present, and can not represent middle school boys and girls across the country. As usual, the faculty is excited to vary our teaching strategies to meet the interests within the classes on these more project-based exploration days.

Science
We continued our exploration of simple machines last week by introducing the mechanical advantage of pulley systems. Using force spring scales students were able to measure how a lower input force could create a greater output force and lift a heavy object. Last Wednesday, after ski school, the girls remained at the village for a brief tour of the Tram control center. The boys finished the day with some demonstrations of the power of pulleys by lifting heavy objects and playing an interesting game of tug-of-war. This week the two groups will switch Wednesday activities. We complete our general investigation of simple mechanics this week with a simple machine interactive assessment on Thursday. Chris and Jo look forward to applying these concepts, as we return to the ultimate example of forces in opposition: the physics of flight. Coming next week: Boyle’s laws; Bernoulli’s principles; and Roger Smith’s raptors!

Social Science
In social science, students are finishing their Civil War projects and have been presenting to the class. This unit has followed a different format than previous ones. This unit was completely student-driven. Students had the choice to select a Civil War-related topic, and then research it. Students also chose how to present their findings to their classmates. This unit challenged students to teach themselves about the Civil War, find an appropriate means to present and, finally, teach to and learn from their classmates.

Spanish
During the past few weeks in Spanish, students have been examining the history and geography of Spain through the lens of forces in opposition. The students completed a map exercise where they identified and learned about each of the 17 autonomous communities before discussing the history of Spain. With this understanding, students examined the Basque terrorist group ETA's recent bombing of an airport parking lot in Madrid. The students examined the painting "Guernica" by Pablo Picasso after discussing this terrorist attack and the history of ETA. Each student chose to study either the history of the bombing of the Basque town, the painting, or the artist before presenting their findings to the class. In the coming weeks, students will use their understanding of the history and geography of Spain to look at efforts towards peace and reconciliation.

Announcements

Rock Band Needs Drum Set

One of this winter's electives is "Rock Band".  With the help of Jason Fritt, students are learning what it takes to bring together their musical talents and rock out!  Is there anyone that has a drum set that they wouldn’t mind loaning to the US rock band? Please contact Dennis Sanders at 733.3729 ex 1139

College Admissions

To date 100% of Journeys School graduates have been accepted to college. The process of application is time consuming and challenging, but our graduates have found success by being prepared and staying organized. On Tuesday, Feb. 6, Lee Stetson, Dean of Admissions at the University of Pennsylvania, will speak at the Jackson Hole High School Auditorium beginning at 6:30 to discuss the admissions process, how to apply to selective schools, and other topics related to the college application process. Please join us for this free presentation. All upper school students and parents are invited. If you have any questions please contact David Porter.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: A Time to Celebrate Diversity

Thanks to the many people who helped to make MLK Day a success. Thanks to Alan Willes for sharing his drumming and cultural songs. Thanks to Mayor Mark Barron, Carmina Oaks (Latino Resource Center) and the Community School for their participation in the Community Peace March. Thanks to the members of the Journeys School community for sharing each of their dreams. Thanks to the upper school students for honestly and thoughtfully addressing modern and pertinent issues. We’re working together to make sure Wyoming is known as the “Equality State”.

Winter Journey

The winter journey will take place February 14-16. We will travel to Dubois and stay at the new Teton Valley Ranch Camp. Curricula are currently being planned by upper school faculty. Much of the journey will take place outdoors and an equipment list will be mailed home closer to the departure date. It will be helpful if students can supply their own cross country ski gear, and Journeys will be able to provide some as well. Cost for the journey is $20/student. Please make checks payable to Journeys School. For more information about the journey please contact Drew Overholser or Dennis Sanders.

WE at Journeys School

by

           David Porter

What did you do this past weekend? Did you travel, enjoy time with your family, ski and play outdoors? Did you go out to dinner and a movie or sleep in the next morning? Maybe you had to work or tackled a project at home. The Journeys School faculty, all of it, and administrators spent Friday evening and Saturday morning in retreat. Two times per year, in August and again in January, we meet as a faculty to look at the “big picture” of the goings on of Journeys School. We ask ourselves about where we are, where we’re going, and how we’ll get there. We set the questions in the context of Teton Science Schools and Journeys School’s mission and purpose: People * Place * Nature * Education and Integrating ecology, culture, and community to ensure academic excellence and personal success. What I want to emphasize is the “WE” of Journeys School faculty and the work that happens while in retreat as well as the work that happens every day. “WE” work passionately to teach, to lead, and to love your children and it’s during retreat that we can reflect on our goals and make sure we are meeting expectations and set new ones. Journeys School finds its energy, vitality, and success when we work as “WE.”

The retreat began at 6:00pm, three hours after classes had let out for the weekend. Some people sought exercise, some participated in an avalanche transceiver refresher course, and some stayed in offices and worked. At 6:00pm we came together to eat dinner. There’s no denying that meals bring people together. The breaking of bread is ancient. It is a sign of openness, sharing, and valuing the other. Our delicious dinner prepared by Yvonne Jackson and Karen Norby, Jackson Campus chefs, was followed by all faculty gathering to share stories of humor or success from this school year. The humorous stories were outrageous and we laughed together, at times practically brought to tears of laughter. As hilarious as the fun stories were, the success stories were as emotionally touching. Sydney Daniels told of a student, a first grade student, who intuited the importance of looking at works of art. He was quoted, “I think we need to look at art with our hearts, not with our eyes.” Such wisdom from the mouths of babes. Karl Van Sycle read a letter written by a sixth grade student who used the imaginary context of having to write a letter to the family before leaving for battle in the American Civil War. The tears of laughter from moments before were choked back as Karl read the letter that repeatedly emphasized how much love of family meant to the author of the letter. All the while, the faculty member who holds the chair of Comic Reliever, Drew Overholser, created his new enterprise, ‘Faculty by the Numbers’, which includes interesting and funny statistics about the Journeys School faculty. Again we were in stitches and we hope to share those statistics in future issues of Basecamp News. The sharing of the meal, the humor, and the touching success stories all worked beautifully to bring the faculty together as WE for the more ‘serious’ work that one would expect of a school retreat.

We then returned to discussing how we do indeed ensure academic excellence at Journeys School. This discussion had originated during the August retreat, had been worked on by grade-level teams throughout the fall, and needed closure. We broke into small groups to talk about observations we had made while observing other teachers this fall. All Journeys teachers take a full day to observe members of their own teams and all the other levels of the school to learn how other parts of the school function, to see teachers in action, and to see how teachers prepare lessons geared toward academic excellence. We were charged to brainstorm ideas that would improve the observation program. Many ideas were offered that will help us to make our observation program better, which will also lead to better ensuring academic excellence.

The final program for Friday evening was to meet in grade-level teams to talk about how the fall trimester had unfolded, to discuss team dynamics and communication, and to set goals that will help the teams function optimally. The upper school team, of which I’m a member, opened itself to honesty. We discussed our individual vulnerabilities as well as ways to help free us from those vulnerabilities and the many demands, expectations, and exigencies of the work of a Journeys School teacher. We used the prayer of Archbishop Romero that emphasizes that one’s work is never complete and that perfection is not necessarily attainable as a beginning point for our discussion. The discussion resumed later Saturday morning. Although the discussion may not have been as rich as that we had Friday night, upper school faculty are committed to more talks and sharing ideas for a common vision that will help us to function as the WE that teaches and guides your children so that all students and teachers feel valued, respected, and in positions to learn and lead.

Saturday morning brought us together again for a bounteous and excellent breakfast, including lots of caffeine – a necessity for a long week followed by a working weekend. In addition to the grade-level team work that took place Saturday morning, we also learned from colleagues who experienced remarkable professional development. Chris Horne, middle school lead teacher, shared with us some of what he learned while on a tour of Japan that focused on Japan’s educational system. You probably read about Chris’s experience in Basecamp News not long ago. Chris showed that Japan’s system, often revered around the world, faces many of the same challenges as American schools and that the Journeys School stands up to and succeeds in many ways that Japanese schools do not. It feels good when we blow our horn now and then. Following Chris’s presentation, Joanna Snyder demonstrated a great deal of information about what she learned at a brain-based learning conference held in Boston, MA this past fall. Much of what Jo shared with us corroborates the brain-based learning programming of Dr. Mel Levine and his organization All Kinds of Minds (which we use at Journeys), but we all learned something new from Jo, which should help us all make simple adjustments to improve classroom practice.

It is not easy to give up a significant amount of time from a weekend to continue work as a Journeys teacher; however, on any given weekend most of the faculty and administrators are working anyway, just not in a retreat setting. The work that goes on in retreat brings faculty together to form the WE. I partner with teachers from other levels of the school that I don’t necessarily see or work with everyday, and I am reminded of the gifts and talents that all teachers and administrators bring to our school. The interactions bolster my enthusiasm about working at Journeys School. The interactions remind me that WE are all in this enterprise together, which makes Journeys School not only a special place for the children, but also for the adults who spend the day and some evenings working together week in and week out, and sometimes on the weekend. 

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© 2005, Basecamp News, Journeys School of Teton Science Schools.