5/22/24-5/24/24: PS 159 students had an incredible two night camping journey! We were blessed to have 4 staff from PS 159, many CatRock leaders, and NYCICO volunteer Janet all helping us. When we first arrived at AMC Harriman, CatRock leader Randol explained to everyone what we would be doing. We did a quick name and learned about Leave No Trace. Students learned how to set up tents and made themselves comfortable with their sleeping pads and sleeping bags. We went on a tour where we saw the beach, swimming area, and boat house to get canoes and lifeguards. After we were all set, we went on a two mile hike around the lake. After a sweaty, hot hike, students were able to cool off in the swimming area. We had a delicious dinner of hamburgers and hot dogs before ending our day with S'mores. YUM!
We were forced to jump out of our sleeping bags quickly on Thursday morning, thanks to thunder and lightning and a ton of rain! Fortunately, we had the recreation room and students quickly decided on making monster forts of chairs and yoga mats! When the sun came out and we put all of our stuff in the sun to dry out, we were able to go on another hike. This one was a bit different... a little steeper, some scrambling, but a sweet destination spot with a shelter where we had our lunch break. Of course... after the exhausting hike, the first place students wanted to go to after was--- the lake! Another evening of roasted marshmallows made for a lot of very happy campers!
After packing up the next morning, we had a reflection session... What we learned, in terms of skills and about ourselves, and somethings we would like to take with us and things we would like to leave on the mountain. One student said "My favorite part was swimming because I don't know how to swim and I started to learn with the life jacket. We jumped into the water and did some tricks inside the water." Another said "Swimming and hiking because I got to play with my friends when I was swimming and we all jumped in together." and yet another said "My favorite part was hiking because I get to see all the different animals and plants." A great experience was had by all!