Traditionally the first day of school at Holden happens the day after Labor Day. I was remembering how this year there were actually three first days of school. The village had been evacuated last August because of a forest fire. When it was time for school to start, there were no students or teachers and only about 20 staff members in the village. So the first first day of school was held in a building in Chelan, set aside by the Chelan school district. After about 10 days, many of the staff, including the students and teachers were allowed back in the village. Here they had the second first day of school. However not all the students were here yet. The boarding students had not arrived, nor had a couple other students who had gone to Minnesota with their mother for the duration of the evacuation. So when they arrived, we celebrated the third first day of school. This was the traditional first day celebration with all kinds of kooky costumes and scenarios happening along the road to school.
But, I digress. This story is about the last day of school. Today was officially the last day of school for the 2007-2008 school year. The day started out with many of us congregating at the school, forming a line from the elementary room to the high school room to congratulate Joseph for graduating from sixth grade. As he walked along the line, we all gave him a token gift to help him move on up to seventh grade. He was cool about it, but had a huge grin on his face the whole time as his arms filled up with the gifts.
Tomorrow is graduation day for our high school senior, John, who is one of our boarding students this year. In the state of Washington, high school seniors are required to have a senior project. John chose to study sustainable farming and as part of his project he led the kitchen staff in preparing a fabulous dinner tonight. It consisted of ham, mashed roots (potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots), and steamed spinach. There was also a wonderful dessert with meringue, berries, and whipped cream. Most of the food came from local farms in the Chelan area. Later this evening he did a presentation of what he had learned in his research. Since the subject matter is so huge, he concentrated on talking about beef. He presented some very interesting facts he had researched about grass fed beef versus feed lot beef.
So school is out for the summer and it is time for a few of the students to leave Holden. Besides John, our other boarding student, Stephan, will be leaving, as well as Thomas and Rachel, whose family has finished their long term stay here. By the end of next week they will be off to other places and other friends in their life journeys. But the Holden experience will always be with them. It's a great place to go to school and the old adage, "it takes a village," really applies here as so many villagers help with teaching and working with the kids.
The custodian from the school district is here this weekend to close down the school for the summer. During the summer the building is turned into Narnia where our summer children's programs happen. We have some really good, caring young adults to lead this program and the miners, jr. miners program (for high school and jr. high school ages) this summer. It should be a lot of fun.
But the summer is short and by Labor Day the school will be rearranged again and we'll be ready for another first day of school.
But, I digress. This story is about the last day of school. Today was officially the last day of school for the 2007-2008 school year. The day started out with many of us congregating at the school, forming a line from the elementary room to the high school room to congratulate Joseph for graduating from sixth grade. As he walked along the line, we all gave him a token gift to help him move on up to seventh grade. He was cool about it, but had a huge grin on his face the whole time as his arms filled up with the gifts.
Tomorrow is graduation day for our high school senior, John, who is one of our boarding students this year. In the state of Washington, high school seniors are required to have a senior project. John chose to study sustainable farming and as part of his project he led the kitchen staff in preparing a fabulous dinner tonight. It consisted of ham, mashed roots (potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots), and steamed spinach. There was also a wonderful dessert with meringue, berries, and whipped cream. Most of the food came from local farms in the Chelan area. Later this evening he did a presentation of what he had learned in his research. Since the subject matter is so huge, he concentrated on talking about beef. He presented some very interesting facts he had researched about grass fed beef versus feed lot beef.
So school is out for the summer and it is time for a few of the students to leave Holden. Besides John, our other boarding student, Stephan, will be leaving, as well as Thomas and Rachel, whose family has finished their long term stay here. By the end of next week they will be off to other places and other friends in their life journeys. But the Holden experience will always be with them. It's a great place to go to school and the old adage, "it takes a village," really applies here as so many villagers help with teaching and working with the kids.
The custodian from the school district is here this weekend to close down the school for the summer. During the summer the building is turned into Narnia where our summer children's programs happen. We have some really good, caring young adults to lead this program and the miners, jr. miners program (for high school and jr. high school ages) this summer. It should be a lot of fun.
But the summer is short and by Labor Day the school will be rearranged again and we'll be ready for another first day of school.
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