Blossoming Outdoors

Today is another “snow day” in a recent series of them; it has been an odd winter.  This day is unique because the trees are absolutely loaded with snow, and I know the Pathfinder campus is particularly beautiful just now, its too bad the kids will not see it today.  Maddie, our 5 year old is chomping at the bit to get back to Pathfinder, be with her friends and begin the new course of study and experience that her teacher, Trisha Short is developing.

Maddie is in her “graduate” Pre-K year with Miss Trisha, her first two years were spent with Paul Ward, and all three have been truly positive for her.  She’s really blossomed this year, and has developed a wonderful sense of anticipation for the years ahead at Pathfinder. 

 I attribute some of Maddie’s desire to be there to Trisha Short’s willingness and ability to develop the curriculum on the fly.  Trisha follows the developing interests of her kids’ thinking, and incorporates those interests into the teaching and experience gathering that take place daily.  By necessity, this style requires of the teacher a solid grounding in the fundamentals, careful observation of the kids’ progress, and a lot of flexibility.  It’s fun to watch, and it works beautifully.

 Recently the kids have moved from a study of birds to life in ancient Egypt (including of course, MUMMIES!) and now to Native American culture.  Along the way Trisha has brought in local expertise and blended the teaching with experiences the kids have while outdoors at Pathfinder. 

The outside at Pathfinder is part of the allure for us as parents, the physical plant may be a bit rustic, but do you think the kids notice?  The campus is a beautiful place, and its layout forces the kids to be out of doors a lot.  The faculty has done a great job of leveraging this, and Pathfinder students do a lot of learning while outside.   This aspect of Pathfinder is unique to our region, and under Karl’s leadership, is getting more emphasis.

I think I look forward to Maddie’s years ahead at Pathfinder just as much as she looks forward to getting back there tomorrow. 

--Kevin Malone, parent

Bring on the Bumps and Bruises




7th graders playing on snow mound together.

It's 3:00pm.  School's out.  Heavy backpacks slung into the car, my five kids pack in.  The older two are still laughing and shouting to friends as we pull away.  The volume steadily rises as all five simultaneously share the day's stories.  My 14-year old daughter throws her feet up onto the dash, baring her shins.  "Where did you get those scrapes?"  I ask.  She laughs as she tells me about playing Capture the Flag in science that day.  "I was sprinting through the woods (laughing...), and Kimberly was chasing me (still laughing...), and I jumped over this log and fell.  Look at this one," she adds, showing me a bigger scrape.  "It was so fun!" 

I smile, picturing it all: long hair blown back by sheer speed, the snap of twigs and leaves crunching underfoot, arms wildly swiping away branches, heart pounding with the body's flight.  Without a doubt, there's screaming.  And laughter.  Listening to her story, I feel so fulfilled and grateful that my kids go to a school that embraces play as a solid foundation for learning in all grades.

Everyone expects the little ones to be playing at school.  And they certainly do.  But the wonderful thing about Pathfinder is that the play continues on through middle school.  There is Predator and Prey, football in the snow, and homemade hovercraft rides.  There is Rome in Playdough, standing on chairs painting the art room ceiling, and acting out the digestive system.  There is snowshoeing across campus, slipping and sliding on frozen Cedar Lake, and mucking about when it's not.  There are Mad Libs, puppets, and wild drama class Saturdays.  There's a lost and found fashion show, wonderful weekly pizza lunch mayhem, and bow and arrow flinging.  There are pipe-insulation marble rollercoasters, kids building fires by the lake, and preschoolers dancing with teenagers in Tapestry.  There's singing for food, pitch black nightwalks, and whispering across the sandbowl at beautiful Pyramid Point.

This is all pretty good stuff on its own, tweens and teens playing around.  But the notable thing here is that alongside all the play, high level academics occur - and flourish, because of it.  This year my 7th and 8th grade daughters have studied the Columbian Exchange, the Silk Road, and The African Slave Trade.  They've learned about the Roaring Twenties, The Great Depression, and The New Deal.  They know about the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical and Romantic Periods.  In math they factor, graph, convert and interpret.  They study genetics, plant systems, invasive species, and a slew of scientific concepts I can barely pronounce.  Right now, the 7th grade class is reading Shakespeare's Julius Cesar.  And getting it.  I dare say every single day in every single class, middle school kids are working together in pairs or in groups of some design, talking, laughing, and learning from eachother.

So I say bring on the bumps and bruises.  This is living!  This is learning!  This is Pathfinder.

-- Tricia Moore, parent

Ariana, 8th grade
Sierra, 7th grade
Mariah, 2nd grade
Glenn, kindergarten
Vienna, pre-kindergarten