August, 2010

Dear Fifth and Sixth Grade Families,

This year's outdoor education program for the fifth and sixth grades is planned for the Ashokan Outdoor Education Center in the Catskills. This trip is scheduled for Wednesday, September 15th to Friday, September 17th. The fifth and sixth grade advisors and a number of other teachers will accompany the group. We will leave promptly at 8:00AM on Wednesday the 15th and will return home around 3:00PM on Friday the 17th. An informational meeting for parents will be held on Friday, September 10th, at 8:00AM in the Sixth Avenue cafeteria.

The Ashokan Center is located in Olivebridge, NY (16 mi. west of NYS Thruway exit 19). Ashokan, a pioneer in the world of outdoor education, has run outdoor/environmental education and living history programs for school groups since 1967. Accommodations are modern; students will be staying in dormitory type buildings. While at Ashokan, students will be involved in a variety of experiences, which emphasize team building, natural history, ecology, sensitivity to the environment, and physical activity.

Thanks to an allocation from the Student Activities Fund. The cost per child is $300 and payment should be made to LREI. This includes room, board, and transportation. Please feel free to call me if you have questions about payment.

Please return the permission slip/payment form and Ashokan’s “Program Participation Form,” by Friday, September 10th. Payment may be sent to the business office or returned to your child’s advisor.

The LREI medical form and all other school health-related forms should be returned to School Nurse Kitty Highstein prior to the start of school. These forms are a pre-requisite for your child’s participation on the Ashokan trip. Per Ashokan’s requirements, you must also complete the attached Ashokan medical forms. A physician’s signature is required on the form if your child will need to take any prescription medications.

I have also enclosed a list that can be used while packing for our three-day trip. Students should bring this list with them, as it is helpful to have it when packing at Ashokan. Students may only bring one piece of luggage, clearly labeled with their name. Students may also bring a small bag to carry onto the bus with them. A sleeping bag is recommended. If your child does not have one she/he can bring sheets. If your child brings a sleeping bag, we recommend that s/he also bring a bottom sheet as well. Blankets are provided. All students need to bring a pillowcase.

When choosing what to bring to Ashokan, it is important to remember that it will be approximately 10 to 20 degrees colder there than it is in New York City. The days may be warm and the nights quite cool. We participate in all scheduled activities rain or shine. It is important to remember a raincoat or poncho and some sort of hat. Extra socks are a must.

You can learn more about the Ashokan experience at http://ashokancenter.org/resident.shtml. If you have questions about the trip program please do not hesitate to call me.

Sincerely,

Mark Silberberg Middle School Principal

The Ashokan Experience:

Our adventure begins the moment we step on to the bus as fifth and sixth graders begin to bond as they discuss their hopes and plans for the next three days. Sixth graders are able to offer insights based on their experience on last year’s trip and fifth graders are eager to hear about these experiences firsthand. Opportunities like these to develop and practice leadership skills abound at Ashokan.

Over the course of the three days, each student will have the opportunity to meet, learn from, and work with a wide cross-section of students from both grades and with the team of fifth and sixth grade teachers. Students will do activities in a number of different groupings: with their advisor and the advisees from their homeroom, with their whole homeroom, with students from the other grade-level homeroom, in mixed grade groups, and as a whole group.

After our arrival at Ashokan on Wednesday, students are introduced to the bunkhouse where they will be staying and several of the Ashokan Naturalists go over procedures and expectations for our stay. The bunkhouse has two large rooms for the boys and two rooms for the girls that each sleeps 22 students. There are also two rooms on each side for the teachers. After lunch, students will take a hike around the facility to get to know where things are.

Students will then meet in their advisory groups for our afternoon Challenge and Discovery activity. In these small groups, students go through a series of adventure-based activities in which group participants get to know one another better and learn how to work through difficult adventure-based challenges. The activities may use low-ropes course elements (constructed activities which are just above the ground and which involve physical balance and flexible, problem-solving, determination and cooperation). This activity challenges students mentally, physically and socially, requiring total cooperation and participation.

After our afternoon activity, students have a “choice” activity in which they choose from a variety of environmentally focused activities. These activities may include nature walks with a naturalist or workshops at the education center. Following dinner, students will have a little “free time” before our evening activities. Our evening activities include a night walk through the woods and a community-drumming workshop. Following these we will play our traditional “trivia” game and then it is off to bed.

Day 2 begins with a pre-breakfast “choice” activity. Following breakfast, the fifth grade experiences the "Age of Homespun" at the Ashokan pioneer homestead. They hike out to visit the log house and join the daily life of the Homesteader. Activities change with the season, and may include cooking, spinning, shingle splitting, woodcutting, and games of the era. The sixth grade participates in “Craft Choice” in which students experience blacksmithing, broommaking or tinsmithing. These activities put an emphasis on the apprentice system. The concept of community, roles people have within the community and how these are changing, and how the Industrial Revolution has changed our lives are explored.

Following these activities, students have another opportunity for a “choice” activity before we head off to lunch. Lunch is followed by an extended afternoon activity that students will do in mixed grade groups. Each group will participate in an “Orienteering and Survival Afternoon.” This afternoon with an orientation of what to expect and necessary clothing for the entire afternoon out. In their groups, make their way between stations. At the stations they learn the basics of Wilderness Preparedness, Fire Building, Shelter, First Aid, and/or Wild Edibles. Through games and practice, students also learn to use topographic maps and compasses to find their way. This may include a hike through the forest, use of the Ashokan compass course, "bushwhacking" to find a location on a map, and games on the field. Plant and animal communities, which make up each forest type, are also examined through observation and first-hand experience.

Following our afternoon adventure, students will have a little free-time before and after dinner. Our evening activity is a spirited square dance followed by our annual Simon Says and Electric Squeeze activities led by our own games guru Larry Kaplan. Time permitting, we may play another round of Trivia and then it’s off to bed.

Day 3 begins with packing up and cleaning the bunkhouse, which is by breakfast. Our culminating activities are done in grade level groups. The fifth graders participate in the “New Games Festival: These are fun, challenging activities which give the students experiences that develop a sense of trust and cooperation among themselves. These games are designed to de-emphasize competition, encourage creative play, spontaneity, participation and use of the imagination. The sixth graders participate in the “Ashokan Scavenger Hunt.” In this activity, students put all of their Ashokan skills to work. They will use orienteering skills, their knowledge of survival skills and an appreciation of the environment to navigate their way through the hunt.

Lunch follows these exciting culminating activities and then we are on the road. We should be back at LREI by 3:30PM if not before.

The Ashokan adventure is a memorable one. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Fifth/Sixth Grade Ashokan Trip Permission Slip

My child, _______________________, in grade ____, has permission to attend the trip to Ashokan and to participate in all activities from Wednesday, September 15th through Friday, September 17th.

________________________________ _____________

Parent/Guardian Signature Date

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Payment Form

I can pay $___ ___ of the $300 total the cost of the trip for my child

______________________ ____________________ Date Parent’s signature

Please attach a check made payable to LREI. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If paying by credit card, please complete the following:

LITTLE RED SCHOOL HOUSE, INC. Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School

CREDIT CARD AUTHORIZATION MASTERCARD AND VISA ONLY

(ANY OTHER CARD PAYMENTS WILL BE RETURNED)

CARD NUMBER______________________________________________ EXPIRATION DATE____________MONTH_________YEAR___________ CUSTOMER CODE (3 DIGIT # ON BACK OF CARD)________________ YOUR NAME_________________________________________________ YOUR SIGNATURE____________________________________________ YOUR BILLING ADDRESS______________________________________ ZIP CODE____________________________________________________ PHONE #_____________________________________________________ AMOUNT OF TRANSACTION $__________________________________ PURPOSE____________________________________________________ CHILD’S NAME___________________________________GRADE______

THE MINIMUM CHARGE ALLOWED FOR CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS IS $25.00

Please feel free to call Mark Silberberg if you have any questions about payment.