May (2014)
5/16/2014
Invested
5/12/2014
What We Meant
April (2014)
4/22/2014
Earth In Mind
February (2014)
2/17/2014
Looking Ahead
January (2014)
November (2013)
October (2013)
September (2013)
May (2013)
April (2013)
4/24/2013
Advancement!
March (2013)
February (2013)
Project Period
3/23/2004

Back from an extended gastronomic binge in Tuscany, I see that this site has been moved up front and reformatted. Someone has made it possible for you to sort archived links under themes like “chaos” and “fun stuff,” and the background color changes when you play along. As always, your thoughts and comments are welcome below.

Project Period started Monday morning and goes to Friday evening. This program was born in the early ‘70s, a time when the newly empowered faculty was creating a whole set of experiential activities based on small group dynamics and non-adversarial relationships (including Wilderness Orientation, Mountain Classroom and Proctor in France and Spain.) These divas are off to Quebec City and Montreal with Sarah and Patrice.

In its first incarnation, Project Period was additional cost. You could make a quilt on campus, or pay to ski in the Alps or sail through the BVI. This didn’t feel right, and Project Period was put to bed for eight years. When it revived about a decade ago, it was funded through the operating budget. Off campus projects include Montreal and Quebec, North Carolina Kayaking, Acadia, Boston, Backwoods Ski Touring, Gloucester, Chess Camp on Martha's Vineyard, Skiing With Disabled, African-American Heritage in New England, Horseback Riding, Broadway, Shotgun Sports, Coastal Maine, and Battleship Cove. On campus offerings are just as diverse. These guys are checking the viscosity of maple syrup at the evaporater:

Like all education, the magic comes from growing into something through the teacher's passion and expertise. These kids are working the chop saw while fashioning oak strips into authentic Shaker boxes.

Below, pairs practice sequential blocking steps in Kenpo.

With temps below freezing, maple sap is imported from local sugarhouses for an on-campus boil Monday. This group will "gather" Wednesday and continue boiling Thursday and Friday.
"Sugaring," observes Dave Pilla, "requires patience." Before you can boil, you need to split.
A large and popular project focuses on yoga and meditation.
Practicing kicks in Ross Young's Kenpo and Martial Arts project.
Dave learns an West African drumming sequence from visiting master instructor/story-teller Won-ldy Paye.
Jake focuses on the design of a floor cloth.
Her face smeared thick with Vaseline, Jen gets some help with a paper mache mask in a mixed crafts project.
Charlie takes a break from building a battery powered motorcycle to threaten me with some white primer.