Ninth graders shouldered their packs and took off into the woods for an all-class camping trip this past weekend. They began downhill from the Outing Club, filing over Alumni Field like an expedition team set upon some remote objective. They picked their way across the gold-hemmed threshold of forest, amongst the roots and rocks of our lower trails, finally arriving to camp at our Nielsen Center for Outdoor Programming. 

This expedition’s objective was no remote, mystery-tinged peak. As the downhill journey into the cool shade and recesses of the forest seems to suggest, this trip was intended to stoke reflection on the levels of both individual and community. 

Much of the ninth grade English curriculum this fall has centered around the big questions of adolescence, questions about identity, belonging, and what English Chair Liz Peyton-Levine calls the feelings of “in-betweenness” that contribute to making this period challenging. That “in-betweenness” sometimes undermines our ability to really feel grounded in any one place, or centered in any one identity, causing anxiety and awkwardness in relations to self, other, and place. 

The ninth grade English curriculum, by working to “reimagine” adolescent experience, honors the tensions, ambivalence, points of pain, and moments of joy that are central to the process of discovery we call “growing up.”  Building on coursework in the English classroom, the ninth grade’s evening at the Nielson Center included programming aimed at encouraging students to place their work in the English classroom in conversation with their own adolescent experience. 

Liz Peyton-Levine invited students to “pause on your journey and recognize that You Are Here. Yes, you are here, you are here. And you are here too. We are here, together in this moment, crucial and urgent, yes, but also full of wonder and awe at every turn.”

So what does it mean to be told “You Are Here?” It has a very literal meaning, predicating a person to a place. The terms themselves are what students were asked to think about - that is, what is this “you,” what exactly is that place indicated by the word “here,” and how exactly do they relate to one another? “You” is addressed to an individual, and also a collective; how do those two senses of the word relate to one another? More specifically, students were asked to reflect upon the following question: 

What can the natural world teach me about the person I want to be?

During the overnight, and with this question in mind, students spent time in solitary reflection, and also time together, where they cooked and convened around an open flame. Free time was given over to play. Students organized games of manhunt, charging through the woods in pursuit of one another, erupted into spontaneous dance parties, kicked-off games of invisible football, and connected as a class in ways they maybe hadn’t before. This is what Head of School Brad Bates would call “sandbox time.”

Screens were noticeably absent at the campsite that evening. In fact, we think sandbox time and screen-time are natural foes – they cannot co-exist. To realize an environment where students could pause and reflect on the meaning of “You Are Here” while indulging in the kind of play mentioned above, it was critical to eliminate screen-time. Through experience we’ve learned that screens monopolize student’s attention, foreclosing the kind of spontaneity that play requires, while at the same time wresting their attention away from the here and now, making difficult the kind of sustained focus required to think hard about big questions. Asking young people to think about big questions is a big ask; to help them rise to the challenge, we feel it’s important to create an appropriately supportive environment that will help them get there. This camping trip aimed to do exactly that. 

On the Monday following this experience, Liz Peyton-Levine shared that “the value of this experience was palpable in the classroom today.” 

She also passed along some words shared by students. Overwhelmingly, their sentiment was that the experience was enriching at the level of individual and community. In particular, they valued slowing down and enjoying time with classmates they had yet to really connect with. 

"The overnight reminded me of the importance of balance, making time to hang out, make friends, connect as a class, even put down our screens sometimes.”

"Laughing with and getting to know classmates I didn't really know before because I don't have class or afternoon activities with them."

Following this expedition, students have been asked to develop their reflections into a personal essay or poem exploring this question about nature and the self. In their approach, students will deploy narrative techniques that leverage writing as a tool for self-analysis, while also exploring language’s ability to coordinate the self in relation to the natural world.