MONTANA
CONFERENCE // NEWS Outdoor School activities include snorkeling.
GETTING BACK
I
woke up this morning with an image in my head. I had been listening to some music I thought would be great for outdoor vespers. I was imagining which students would be playing guitar and singing. The image was of a Friday evening vespers at the top of our ski run, just before it turns steep, with the valley and mountains stretched out before us. We have really great sunsets here, and in my mind’s eye this sunset would be incomparable. We would be in that worshipful, contemplative mindset that comes with the dying moments of another week. There would be a campfire, the smell of Douglas fir, the crispness of a late summer evening and students gathered around. It isn’t uncommon to have vespers at the ski lodge, particularly on snowy evenings later in the winter, but we have been missing these evening vespers as of late. One of my first memories of the campus life of an academy was when I was following my grandfather around Laurelwood Academy.
More online at glnr.in/115-04-mt_outdoors
There was so much vibrant energy, I knew in that moment what my life calling was going to be. I wouldn’t find out until a decade or so later what the subject would be. I have always
Students enjoying an afternoon Sabbath hike.
felt called to teach students first; the love of a subject came second. The last few months I have found myself sitting in
front of a computer 10 hours a day, trying to find the best way to break down science into easily understood fundamentals for video after video. We should be wading in creeks, feeling the thump in your chest from a good chemistry explosion, hearing the resonance of a vibrating rod and wrestling together over some challenging problems. I miss the very things that drove me to teaching in the first place: the students, the interactions, the energy of a full classroom. We are already planning for next year, which is difficult as no one knows exactly how next year will go. But whatever happens outside our campus, I feel optimistic about our future. Our science lab is getting a much anticipated makeover. We are building a new amphitheater. The
gym parking lot and lobby are getting a face-lift. We are adding in new classes, including fly fishing and a dual-credit class in English. Biology class will be raising trout in the classroom. We are going to get back to bonfire vespers, canoeing on the lake, hiking in the mountains, skiing on our ski hill, snorkeling with the trout,
Students pose a the top of Mount Ellis. JAMES STUART
Montana lakes provide a myriad of outdoor activities.
playing soccer and basketball, telling stories and laughing together, but most especially to what I love: togetherness with students. James Stuart, Mount Ellis Academy vice principal for academics and science teacher
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