We had a whirlwind of a day wrapping up our experience together at FOREST. The day was a crisp one, yet we all were warmed by the bright sunshine, our activities, and by our smiles and interactions with each other.
After completing our usual morning routines of movement, gratitude, sensory attuning, and sharing a daily riddle, we played a game and decided that we should have snack in the sunny field. With the remainder of the morning, we settled into the final phase of our strap drill friction fire kits.
After the final carving, the students tuned their kits in with various knife techniques and proceeded to learn the ins and outs of using this fire kit with their partner. Squeaks and squeals resounded from the kits and excited voices rang out, indicating to us that the learning process was in full swing. Heat was generated by the pairs of fire makers and smoke began to billow out from a good number of kits! One group got a coal! A tinder bundle was brought forth to nurture the little coal along as we carried it to camp and kindled it into a rip roaring fire that warmed us during lunch.
During the afternoon, we played a Capture the Flag variation called Hive Wars, in which two teams—the Bald-faced Hornets and the Yellowjackets—attempt to capture the other hive’s Queen. It was really fun and a great final epic forest game to cap our semester!
After cleaning up camp, the students were sent out for a quiet moment of solitude to contemplate the semester and all their experiences during the last several weeks., We then called them in for an honoring ceremony. Each student received words of praise from the group and were encouraged to take that uplifting feeling with them into the world, and to not forget to encourage others and point out their good qualities whenever the opportunity presents itself.