Proctor Academy's Mountain Classroom program transitioned back from Winter Break into the cacti-filled desert. Our first days were spent studying Wilderness First Aid in Arizona's beautiful Lost Dutchman State Park. Read more about their first week back below!
On our way out of Mississippi we stopped In Jackson to meet with lawyers at the Southern Poverty Law Center whose work focuses on the school-to-prison pipeline. Our next stop was in Bayou Sorrel, Louisiana where we spent the day with the Atchafalaya Basinkeeper and Greg Guirard, a local legend who salvages old cypress logs. To finish up our time in the Southeast we ate lunch in New Orleans' French Market and chatted with William Most, a local civil rights lawyer. Enjoy Jon's reflection on our time in the Southeast!
John Ruskey and Mark "River" Peoples from the Quapaw Canoe Company showed us to an amazing week of paddling that Grayson '18 and Matt '17 have documented below. In our class time we explored James Kilgore's Understanding Mass Incarceration, Richard Grant's Dispatches from Pluto, and a nutritional analysis of prison diets. which allowed us to get to know the prison system through multiple lenses. Enjoy this second update from Mountain Classroom's first three weeks of the term!
Mountain Classroom began our winter trimester at the Morning Sun Mindfulness Center in Alstead, NH. After orienting the students to the bus, trailer, and living arrangements we all watched The Dhamma Brothers. This film started our first discussion on the term's guiding question: What are the components to leading a fulfilling life? In the Southeast, Mountain Classroom will be exploring the criminal justice system as an obstacle in the pursuit of fulfillment. Our first destination is canoeing on the Mississippi River with the Quapaw Canoe Company in Clarksdale, MS. Enjoy Jaz '17's reflections on our first week together!
Mountain Classroom has been enjoying Vermont for their culminating academic and backcountry adventures. The students chose to backpack into Stratton Pond in the Lye Brook Wilderness for their final expedition. The blogs tell the story beautifully, so read on.
Last week Mountain Classroom immersed ourselves in the West Virginia hills on our 4-night solos. The days were filled with sun and nights with rain with solos giving us time to reflect, catch up on sleep, and enjoy personal reading. Since then we have been driving north as we investigate small-scale, sustainable farming. In Virginia we visited Joel Salatin’s Polyface Farms, made famous by Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma. Our next stop was participating in the Run Like the Wind 10K in Ellenville, NY before arriving at Sparrowbush Farm in Hudson, NY. Sparrowbush Farm is owned and managed by Ashley Loehr, Instructor Coco Loehr’s elder sister. We finally had the opportunity to get dirty while helping Ashley prepare for the growing season. Now Mountain Classroom is moving onto Vermont where we will be taking finals at Ned’s Place at the Merck Forest and Farmland Center in Rupert, VT.
Mountain Classroom is cruising east! In Colorado we focused their studies on Allan Savory's Holistic Resource Management while discussing the grazing practices at Chico Basin Ranch. Driving north we spent time with JR White Hat, longtime Proctor friend, on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. We then drove through Kansas to learn about the Land Institute's pursuit to develop perennial wheat varieties. Now the students are perfecting their techniques for setting up tarps in preparation for solos in the hills near Green Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.
Mountain Classroom finished their month-long stint in Utah with a week on the San Juan River guided by Kay Harris of Canyon Expeditions. We gardened at the home of Bluff artist, Joe Pachak, and visited the Wolfman Panel in Butler Wash before pushing off on the river in their inflatable kayaks. After traveling through Colorado and visiting the Chico Basin Ranch this last week, we slept last night in Cody, Nebraska. Today we are heading to Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota to spend time with Proctor graduate JR White Hat.
