PS 126 to Croton Gorge Park

On a beautiful sunny but chilly morning the young people, school staff, parents, ICO volunteers and a great special guest, Alan Gerson, President of the 'Sophie Gerson Healthy Youth Organization' met outside PS126.
Before leaving school on a classic yellow school bus, we played a few icebreaker games to introduced ourselves, Jason and Phil checked that all the paperwork was correct and explained safety procedures.
This was the first trip for PS126 and everyone in the group were very excited to be part of it. 

The weather was perfect for our journey to Croton Gorge Park. On the way we shared out rucksacks, water, snacks and lunch, delicious sandwiches made by Phil.

On arrival to the Park the first thing to greet us was the view of the magnificent waterfall sparkling in the sunlight. It was breathtaking. We mustered on the field at the base of the dam, decided who would hike lead and be tail-end Charlie for the first leg. 
The students used 'walkie talkies' which was great fun. "Copy, over and out."
We started the trail and first crossed the footbridge over the dam. The scenic views of the reservoir and the waterfall from above was fantastic. The now called Cornell Dam, it stands over 200 feet high. The Croton Reservoir has a capacity of 34 billion gallons of water, covering 177 square miles. 

We hiked through the Croton Gorge Park on the Green Trail, on route we saw a Turkey Vulture, and two beautiful horses from the local stable on a trot through the woods. 
The students were delighted and enjoyed talking to the riders and spending time with the horses. The landscape was a beautiful winter woodland, fallen crunchy leaves underfoot, blue sky above us, and a group of very happy kids hiking, and laughing.
The trip was lead by Jason, who did a grand job of keeping the group safe, ensuring that everyone was on route and introducing principles of hiking such as leading and leave no trace. 

After the hike we all piled back onto the bus and travelled in to Ossining to the 
Joseph Caputo Community Centre. Here we met our guide who took us on a tour of the Weir and Double Arch Bridge, then down into the original 1842 brick water tunnel, where we learnt about the history of the tunnel, built to take water to New York City. Back at the community centre we watched a documentary film on the history of the Dam the Croton Reservoir and the people who designed and built it, fascinating.......

Before we left the Centre, we asked the students to record their experience and feeling's of the day; we also had the opportunity to see the the 'Sing Sing' prison exhibition. This was an interesting extra to our trip, and the kids loved it.

We returned home very happy, a little tired and proud of our day's expedition. 

Many congratulation to the young people of PS126 on their achievement, thank you again to the Sophie Gerson Organization, school staff, and volunteers. 
A huge thank you to Phil and Jason for their extremely successful first trip for PS126. Looking forward to the next one.