NYC Outward Bound Schools Crew Orientation Blog

Mr. Friedman(Lauro), instructors, Ismery and Josh arrived in camp after the moon rise with an exuberant crew of students.  They had spent the afternoon hiking to one of the most picturesque locations called Pawnee Rock.  Matthew, Nicolas and Benjamin were in front and just so excited about their day.  They exclaimed, “This was the best day of my life; ever!” As well as, “The hike was like living in a dream.”

This is just after a few hours of arriving here and also with some magic on the work of instructors Josh Harris, Ismery Lora and Mr. Friedman.  They met their crew with the same exuberance that has rubbed off on the students.  They started the day with some trepidation and now have fully embraced their Outward Bound experience.

After working hard together at the low team challenge, Mr. E’s crew learned all about fire building from their instructor team of Marco Yuracheck and Allison Kreuzer.  After building a grand fire, the crew roasted hot dogs and learned more about each other.

Ms. Heister’s crew soared high on the high  ropes course.  Brianna Walters was last to climb the multi vine as she was cheered on my her entire crew.  There will be more adventures to be had tomorrow.   All young men and women are snuggled safely in their cabins, dreaming about what comes tomorrow.  I would like to extend a special thank you to guest photographer Patti in Heister’s crew.

This is the first day for 9th grade crews from Gaynor Mc Cown Expeditionary Learning School in Staten Island here at Sharpe Reservation with New York City Outward Bound Schools.   The weather is amazing and crews are on their way to strengthening their relationships with themselves, their crew members and their crew advisors.    Outward Bound instructors have a great day planned for their crews.  Some will be going to the low challenge course.  Others to the high challenge course or for a challenging hike.  The magic begins by simply stepping off the bus.

There will be more photos later on in the day and certainly more stories to tell.  Stay tuned!

Omar was really scared to climb up that tree.  He was, in fact, crying.  His crew members coached him and encouraged him to get on the ladder and climb that tree.  It took him a good while, but he did it.  His partner on the other side had already had her own battles with that tree, but with the help of her crew, she made it to the top.  Ronesha held onto the tree patiently while Omar made up his mind to conquer the climb.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Omar crept up higher and higher.  Eventually, he reached the top of the climb where he must hold onto a rope and step out onto a wire.  He froze.  Ronesha made a quick decision to cross that wire by herself to go to the other side and help Omar.  This was very brave indeed.  The focus changed from her own fear of the climb to making sure her crew mate was okay.  Ronesha crossed the wire and physically pried Omar from the tree so they could be both lowered to the ground together, arm in arm.  We are all so proud of them both, for climbing out of their comfort zones and for helping one another in a compassionate manner.

There were so many great things that happened today you can see from the photos:

• Mr. Margolius and Mrs. G’s crews backpacked to Pawnee Rock where they reflected and are now sleeping for the night.  They have an expansive view of the Catskills and the Shawangunk Ridge.
• Mr. Neufield’s crew also had a long hike to the Northwest Overlook.  They are sleeping outside by the lake.  It is the most perfect night for sleeping under the stars.
• Mr. Kilgore’s crew helped each other up the Giants Ladder.
• The list goes on and on and on…

The partner organization for Launch is New York City Outward Bound Schools and we all value this partnership.  There are many things we have in common, as we both have similar origins, values and character traits.  We also have some common practices like rotating leadership.  Each day, students have a job they must perform from leaders to cooks to navigators and medics.  It is with these jobs that students take responsibility for themselves and each other.  The most desirable job, by far is to be a cook. You’d be surprised at how empowering cooking for a large group of people can be.

There was such great work done today!  It is apparent that crews are really coming together through challenging activities like hiking, climbing and team building initiatives.  You will see some of the activities in the photographs.  The smiles are completely genuine and unabashed.  They are real, reflecting real emotions.

There were some pretty incredible moments today, like when Mr. Margolius and Mrs. G’s crews climbed the Leap of Faith.  There was eating lunch in the rain, playing in the field and even learning how to fly a kite.

Everyone is cooking dinner right now with the sun setting to the West.  The geese are honking on the lake and birds are finding their nightly roost.

We are all very excited that the 6th grade and founders class at Launch are here with New York City Outward Bound Schools.  The weather is sunny and cool, which is nice because it keeps the nagging insects at bay.  Instructor teams have been working with crews  this morning and afternoon about the idea of a deeper exploration of what it means to be crew.  How that looks takes many different forms.  Some crew have been playing games that help crews work on communication, leadership, goal setting and more.

Instructional team, Erin Chalmers and Juila Blair have Mr. Ito and Mr. King’s crew.  They are working hard on building a community this week that 1)has already started at school and 2) can be highly successful here at Sharpe Reservation and 3) a community that will stick together through thick and thin.  This is what crew is all about: Perseverance!  There are some photos of their work in chalk on our drive and if it doesn’t rain, this will be our artwork for the entire week.

Crews are all headed out to either the low challenge course or on a hike so there are more photos and stories to come.  Stay tuned.

Students in Mr. Friedman’s crew wrote in their journals about climbing the Leap of Faith.  I will tell you this:  It is HARD!  It is even harder in the rain, but worth every moment.  Isabella was very brave, as was Ayanna.  Both girls didn’t think they could do it:  get to the top.  But, with the help and encouragement of their crew, the did it!  After Ayanna floated to the ground she was hugged by her crew members.  If you were there, you would have been touched.

The rain has tapered off and honestly, it was a good thing.  The pollen and insects have been kept at bay.  We also really needed the rain for the plants, as it was unusually dry.  If we have learned anything from adverse weather these past few years it is this:  it brings people together.  Ms. Cundari’s crew climbed in the rain yesterday and they believe it really pushed them to come together.  The transformation in their crew is completely remarkable.  Just wait and see.

The buses are scheduled to depart at 3pm today, which should put them back in Staten Island by 5:30.  This is dependent on traffic and weather.  I would like to thank the students, teachers and New York City Outward Bound instructors for an excellent Crew Orientation course.  We are looking forward to 2014!

There are 11 MAELS crews here and although it is only the closing of the second day there have been such great strides in the development and the coming together of crews.  Ms. Milona and I spent the day together going from crew to crew, observing amazing work and talking to amazing students at the high challenge course and here at Camp ABC. There have been ups and downs and all over the places.   We have had rain, annoying insects, sunshine, sunsets and stars.

But…this evening, however, it seems like everything and everyone has really come together.  The true coming together is the gathering around in eating together as a family with excellent food and also the having of  a campfire.  Ms. Selemi’s crew talked about how they were divided at school, so one of their goals for today was to spend more time getting to know someone they didn’t know at all.  They interviewed each other and then shared what they learned about each other.  They felt that they were in a much better place as a crew now, which will propel them into the future.

Ms. Albert’s crew had an Iron Chef cook off, which was simply incredible.  Students were split into small groups and were given a plethora of food with which they had to create a masterpiece and they did!  You can see from the photos that this challenge was taken very seriously.  I was truly impressed by the dishes that were crafted for this event.  The marsh (get it:  MARSH) mallow sandwiches were the winner of the contest, but they were all winners.

All crews did really appreciate their great work today, whether it was on the high challenge course, or hiking or working together to make a fire or a meal.  Ethan in Mrs. Cundari’s crew said it best:  He said, “This is been a good day with my crew.”  Funny thing is that students are asking if they can stay longer. The good news is that this memory will last for a lifetime.