We joined the sixth graders and hiked up Mount Holyoke at Skinner State Park last Friday for our annual LES Mountain Day. The weather was great and the hikers were adventurous. We covered lots of different terrain, from walking on paved roads and dirt trails, to climbing up and down and over rocky outcroppings.

Check out the Photos page for more pictures of our hike!

Fourth graders recently graduated from the SAFE Fire Safety Program after completing 3 sessions with Leverett fire fighters. Prior to each session, students completed a short questionnaire to assess their previous knowledge of fire safety at home.

 

The final session took place at the Leverett Safety Complex, where students practiced placing 911 calls to a real dispatcher. They also spent time in the SAFE Trailer, identifying fire hazards and practicing escaping when a smoke alarm goes off.

Learning from the dispatcher about how 911 calls work.

Practicing making a 911 call to the dispatcher.

We had a fulfilling trip to Morse Hill on October 4th. Working with Victoria Shaw and other Morse Hill staff, fourth graders participated in a series of cooperative challenges. We started with games outside in a field on a very chilly fall morning, taking time to stop and reflect on how to work together and make our day successful. The class broke into two groups later in the morning to tackle four different challenges on the low-ropes course. The “whale watch” and the “Mohawk walk” both led to frustration and pride as groups overcame challenges. After lunch, we hiked to the high ropes course and tried the “flying squirrel” and the “ladder.”

Check out the “photos” section of the blog for more pictures of our day together. Thanks to the folks at Morse Hill and to Craig Cohen and Jonathan Lambert for helping to make this field trip a success.