Been there, done that. Back for more.

I first came to Pathfinder many years ago when my daughter, Katie, now 16, was in second grade. That was nine years ago! Now she’s a junior at Central High School involved in just about every activity known to man--choir, journalism, debate, tennis and cross country skiing.

I also have a second grader, Will, who enrolled at Pathfinder four years ago as a preschooler. He pretty much grew up at Pathfinder, and Katie's friends LOVED him, swooping him in big hugs and twirling him around. So that makes me the oldest parent of the class. Yes, I've probably have been there longer than the vast majority of parents. The reason: I love it.

I remember when Katie first arrived at Pathfinder and was a little surprised to see the rustic nature of the cabins (she had attended a spanking brand new school the year before). Mrs. Iott, the science teacher, sensed her reluctance and swept her up with enthusiasm. "At THIS school, we do experiments and we don’t worry about making messes. Learning can be messy!" She wasn’t kidding. The kids read books, absolutely, but they also literally dig into projects. A high point of Katie’s elementary science education was shooting off rockets that the kids put together themselves. Another time, they designed cars and raced them in the gym.

      Katie was delighted with Pathfinder. Mrs. Iott was speaking her language, and it just wasn’t science. One of the after-school offerings in middle school was logic, which Katie loved. She credited Mrs. Iott for her later success in debate (she and her debate partner, Mike Payne, recently won the state tournament this year for TCAPS--it's a first for the school in a very, very long time).

      Katie's second grade teacher was Mrs. T (short for Mrs. Hanawalt) and one of the first things they did was “study” a poem by Vivaldi (and not until that year did I realize Vivaldi wrote poetry). Then they created a dance to Vivaldi’s “Winter” musical composition. That same year, they did a pond study. Each day, the kids put on rubber boots and hiked out to a pond, where they observed pond life and wrote about animal behavior. In the second semester, they wrote and published an original story. They also incubated eggs and watched little chicks hatch. In fourth grade, the hands-on learning continued. When they were studying Pilgrims, for example, the kids drew an actual outline of the Mayflower in the dirt to get an idea of how big it was. Pathfinder has a wonderful blend of book learning and hands-on experience.

     Will’s second grade teacher, Kate Gordon (Mrs. Kate), has a different, but equally wonderful style. She has made a home of the second grade room with a fire place (okay, a video fireplace), soothing music, and nice homey touches. She also brings her fuzzy white dog, Chani, who hangs out on the couch. Will is a naturalist, and, like Mrs. T’s class, the second graders spend huge amounts of time outdoors, not only learning about it, but just playing during recess as kids should play­­—making forts out of snow and fallen trees, playing hide and seek in the trees, playing tag. The class works hard, but feels relaxed—a perfect place to learn!

      It's this security that gives Will and the others the confidence to express the ideas percolating in their brains. The other day, for math, the kids were learning about numeration and place value using Base 10 Blocks. Ms. Kate got out the big tub of blocks and passed around the 3 different kinds of blocks—a cube (worth 1), a long (worth 10), and a flat (worth 100). The conversation shifted to other things that are worth 1, 10, and 100, and, of course, money and its base-10 structure came up. At this point, Will’s eyes got huge and he called out, “Ms. Kate, I have an idea!” He asked if they could buy the blocks, based on their value, and use them to build. The rest of the class thought that was a fabulous idea, and Elliot ran over to get the cash register. Students distributed the money evenly among themselves (another math skill!) and Ms. Kate became the store owner/cashier. After the money was distributed, kids naturally joined together in groups and pooled their money. They started building interesting structures, running up to the store every so often to exchange or purchase something. They ended up building and buying right through lunch, which normally starts at 11:30. Fifteen minutes later, the kids reluctantly put their materials down to take a lunch break. On Wednesday, the class asked if they could play Will’s game again—it’s a new class favorite!  Will was thrilled when he came home. Boy, did he feel proud.

That's my boy, Will, holding the money to buy more blocks. 

 In the foreground are friends Owen and Zachary.

-Anne Stanton, parent

Will (2nd grade)

Katie (Pathfinder alumna)