May 15, 2010
This past Saturday we had a relatively "normal" day, but nevertheless it was stupendous. We had our two classes in the morning and then lunch afterward. After lunch, our three groups began our rotations of town, laundry, and woo
d chopping. All of the AP US history students were in the same group, which allowed for them to have a study session to review for their exam, which is quickly approaching. That night, back again due to popular demand, we had another dodgeball tournament as our Saturday Night activity. Everyone got really into it, dressing up in team colors and showing a lot of team spirit.
Last Sunday, the entire Rocky Mountain Semester went to Read's house. Read is a former National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) instructor and has spent the past twenty years working on a "green" house just outside of Buena Vista. Read explained that his house runs almost entirely on solar energy, but he uses wind power as a backup energy source because of the numerous overcast days throughout the year. Because he is off the grid, Read has no electricity bill, but when something goes wrong with his solar panels, he has t
o fix them himself. For water, he has a well extending down into the Earth almost 200 ft. Many of us were amused to discover that Read had constructed a hot tub heated entirely by solar panels; the solar panels, Read told us, cost him only $1! The house itself was constructed of thick, rammed earth slabs. Read told us that insulating a house is a lot like insulating our bodies on the winter trip; you have to have a thick layer as the roof (like hats on our heads) and you have to have a thick foundation (like how we would usually wear two pairs of socks). Most of Read's building materials were leftover from construction sites and he also described to us how he liked to shop for food locally in order to lessen his carbon footprint. It was a very cool, enlightening experience for us all.
As always, classes are a large part of the Rocky Mountain Semester. In English class we are writing lyric essays, which are creative essays that braid together different subjects into one common theme. In Science we have been studying sustainability (hence the visit to Read's house) and for lab we examined our campus energy consumption. In P&P, Sheri Cerise, a member of the staff at HMI, came in decked out in camouflage and spoke to us about hunting and its environmental impact. Precalculus classes got outside to operate the potato guns and examine parabolas. In history we're having a debate about Japanese internment camps as we study the second World War while calculus students are examining limits. Intermediate French students did oral presentations on a francophone country of their choosing and are working through a challenging text, L'homme qui plantait des arbres, by Jean Giono. Spanish students did presentations on food culture in a variety of Latin American countries and have been studying for a test this weekend! All in all, we have been keeping very busy in our academics, even as we approach the end of the semester.
his week, there were a variety of activities run by apprentices and faculty. On Monday, some people made pies and cakes in the kitchen. Others played ultimate Frisbee on the turf field in town, had a jam circle in the library, rode bikes, or made decorations for the upcoming square dance activity on Saturday night. Wednesday, some students went on a bike ride or had a silent study hall. Three students got to help Molly Barnes redecorate her office above Who's Hall. They took down all the old photos and helped her select and put up new ones on the walls. On Friday, a group of us learned how to fly fish from a group of Colorado Mountain College students on a lake next to the Arkansas River. Another group did an "intro to dj-ing" lesson with our math teacher, DJ Diction. Activities were a lot of fun this week and everyone had a great time.
By: Maddy Pitkin, Max Braun, Ari Solomon, & Virginia Hill