Dear Boundless Families:
The evenings have this chill about them now. It’s transition time in weather and in all things post Labour day. Butterfly time for most families.
But your kids couldn’t care less in this moment.
The two OE classes have been whitewater rafting on the Ottawa River for a day. I know. Tough life.
I can hear the 4uers shrieking from my desk as I write. They are swinging 60 feet in the air. It’s pretty much party time for that group, and they have earned every moment. Jim put them through their paces, and the entire class is feeling relief.
Yesterday was a culminating time for this literary gang. Jim labelled the day “The Journey”. Each student had to live out the life of the protagonist(s) of their novels. And given that each student got to choose their own novel, “The Journey” became logistically complex, and equally profound.
One kid was reading about a character without thumbs, so we duct taped the students’ thumbs for three hours while he had to perform complex survival tasks.
One student had a three hour solo experience (although surreptitiously monitored) under a tree at the top of our cliff – some mindfulness thing. She stepped into a hornet’s nest and got stung 12 times. Dreading the phone call I would have to make to parents, I was overwhelmed by both shock and relief when the parent I had to contact was my own wife.
The day had a profound impact on the class, and man, you shall hear stories.
The younger English class has a group of young lads who have grown profoundly from their experience, far beyond the nuts and bolts of reading and writing. In ways they don’t quite understand yet, their have learned that learning best happens collaboratively, and in an atmosphere that is benevolent, supportive and kind. We had to check their nefarious, albeit harmless impulses from time to time, but this is par for the course. The girls, from day one, were golden in this cohort.
The stories taking place here these past two weeks would fill the ancient library of Alexandria. Almost infinite in variety, and poignant in impact, all parents should expect to have their ears talked off tomorrow upon your reunions. Wishing you all joyous and tear jerking embraces.
Warm regards,
Steven
