Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Week #1 2018, Seguin House

Week #1 of FLOW 2018 is in the books, and it was another great one! The Seguin House had four groups  head out to Castle, Berry and Ram Islands with following tides and gentle breezes on Tuesday afternoon. Traveling to campsites on the same day that we arrive from school makes for a long one, but the kids dug in and had their tents set up and dinner cooking by evening.


One of this year's curricular connections at BMS is reflections on Growth Mindset. FLOW is a perfect experience to connect to the concept of mindset because it places kids in a wilderness setting and pushes them into new and unusual situations, stretching the boundaries of what they believe their capabilities are. Students may be in a group with kids they don't know very well, they may have never canoed before, they may have never slept under the stars before, they may have never cooked over an open fire before, they may have never had to navigate using a nautical chart. Novelty activates the brain, and being on FLOW is like trying to drink from a fire hose of new experiences. 





Another curricular connection this year that has become a staple of FLOW is Ms. Johnson's  plein air watercolor lessons on Beal Island. Each group navigates the gentle currents of "Little Hell's Gate" to land on the expansive southern beach of this rocky outpost, dappled with patches of blazing green moss under stands of soaring pine trees. The students spend an hour exploring color mixing and watercolor techniques in this majestic, natural setting. Once back at school they continue to work on these images, revising and reexamining them until they reflect the unique features of Beal Island, and the effort they put into them.  



Even though the week's weather started out rainy, it ended up being a quintessentially beautiful, early fall week. In fact, the weather was warm enough that students were able to swim and practice T-Rescues with capsized canoes. 


This week, the weather pattern is more active, so the itinerary has been shifted to keep groups at the campsites on Chewonki Neck for the first night. The wind is forecast to slow down beginning Wednesday, so the groups will likely venture out to the islands at that time.

Check back next week to hear about the Acadia House's experiences on FLOW. They were all very excited to get the boats loaded and headed out on the water this morning. I'm sure they will have some great tales to tell!



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