The Mentone Chronicles My Mentone Experience by Alexa Henningsen
Imagine this, you are at Nature’s Classroom in Mentone, AL. You have been in a comfy bus with your 5th grade classmates for what feels like 3 hours. Finally, you arrive, you step out of the bus and you feel a cool chill go down your body. Then, you figure out what cabin you are in. You grab your bag and find your bunk. After that, you find out your field group. Then, you will go on a hike with your field group. That was my experience arriving at Nature’s Classroom. On my first hike, I could hear all the birds chirping and the crackling sound of our field group’s footsteps in the leaves. Then, we went down a steep, rocky hill and made a sharp left turn. As we were hiking, we all smelled something gross. It smelled like poop! Ewwwwwwwww! Then our field group leader finally told us what the smell was. The smell was only a plant that grows near the water. This is a trip I will never forget. Blair, Avery, Ella, Paige, and I all playing keep away with a soccer ball against the boys and beating them so badly. Another one is going through Split Rock. Split Rock is a rock that you can go through and get pulled up by your field group leader. When you go through it, it is tighter than a pair of too small jeans. When you get through the tight part you’ve got to step on a rock and pull yourself into a little part in the rock that has space in it. Then you look for your field group leader’s foot and climb to it. Then, you turn on your back and your group leader will pull you up. When you are in there, the rocks are like sandpaper with pointy edges that stick out. It felt like a refrigerator; it is cool but not too cool. Also, I loved being with my friends and getting to know them even better. I also loved meeting new people and getting to know them better too. I was so happy to get to know new friends and old friends. Here are some things that I learned at Mentone. I learned about ORT, which stands for “organic recyclable trash.” It is when you eat everything on your plate and drink everything in your cup. Also, if our whole grade was Ort-less, we would get a plate on the ceiling. But unfortunately, we didn’t get one. Also, I learned that bamboo is a type of grass. Another is that there are more than one kind of lichen. One of my favorite parts was the Invention Convention. It was where you made an “invention” to help the world. Then, you would make a presentation on what you made. After that, the ‘judges’ would judge you. After everyone goes, they select a winner. Unfortunately, we didn’t win. Another one of my favorites was “Everyone Is It.” It’s a game and you have some balls and there is a grid. If you get hit by one of the balls, you sit down. But if the person who hit you with the ball gets hit, you’re back in and they are out. Another favorite part was Rec Time. Rec time is where you can just play for what felt like 30 to 45 minutes. During that time my friends and I would play soccer, basketball and volleyball. In the gym when you took off your shoes, the court would stick like gum to your socks. It felt weird! Although this was one of my favorite school trips, here are some things that could have been better. One of them is the counselors. The counselors could have been a little bit nicer and engaging when we did things like the ropes course and Split Rock. Another one was the cabins. The hairy, moldy showers were disgusting. Also, the heaters in the cabin were literally real fire, and this is really dangerous. The cabin could have caught on fire because of the temperature of the fire. There is just one more thing. The classes. Also, the classes weren’t that fun and there were only like 3 to 4 classes and sometimes you wouldn’t get the one that you wanted because it was already full. Now we are leaving Mentone. Bye Mentone!!!
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