End-of-Year updates June 1, 2010

The End-of-Year Program is in full swing. As I told the freshmen when I visited them in Newton Grove, this program is not meant to be easy--and it isn't. This experience is hard work for all involved. We purposely take students out of their comfort zones and ask them to stretch, take risks, and learn. The freshman class, for example, will live together at the farmworker ministry in Newton Grove for 10 days--cooking and eating all meals together, providing important service work to others, figuring out what to do when their is nothing to do, and sleeping in less than optimal sleeping conditions. Tonight's dinner, for example, is a Spanish-speaking-only dinner. I thanked them on Sunday for taking a chance on this wonderful experiment, for without their enthusiastic participation, it would not work. Below, you can see the freshmen surrounded by the many farmworkers that they have met.
Here are the freshmen singing during the church service. You can see Father Tony on the right.

Here is the amazing, passionate, wise and wonderful Father Tony giving a sermon on Sunday.

Sydney, Audrey, and Celeste are ready for church.

Little Phoebe is learning to walk in Newton Grove!

Jamie and Nick provided the accompaniment to the group's song during church.

Here is the French trip group enjoying their day in Etretat. Ken says that it rained and the wind howled, but they made the best of it.

I couldn't resist this shot of Julia and Alison with this very serious seagull. Our beautiful students in France!

The group in Nicaragua is working with community members to build a community garden. Some of the students are giving swimming lessons to children in Las Salinas. The Trinidad group hiked to a pristine waterfall yesterday and observed sea turtles laying eggs on the beach last night. Today, they were back at work at the orphanage and with Habitat for Humanity. The West trip put in on the Green River today and will canoe in Labyrinth and Stillwater Canyons for 4 days. Our group in the Adirondacks is scheduled to kayak from Stoney Creek Pond to Raquette River today. Tomorrow, they have an overnight hike at Giant Mountain.

We hope that our End-of-Year Program offers potentially life-changing experiences for our students. We look forward to their safe return...and many wonderful stories of their adventures.