This Intensive Learning taught me a lot about the Camden community. Moving forward with my volunteer time going back to Camden is a good possibility. I really enjoyed volunteering at the soup kitchen and seeing all the grateful people and how happy someone can be, despite being in the position they are. I would...
Continue readingFinal Day of Yoga Retreat
Today we woke up early to practice an energizing vinyasa flow. As part of the last practice we were encouraged for one song to let go of everything and to be free as we danced around the room. Afterwards we headed to breakfast to enjoy our last meal together, homemade yogurt and grains and...
Continue readingYoga Retreat Day 5: Boat Pose … on a Boat
Today we started with an intense vinyasa class that had a lot of ab work in it. After breakfast, we made mala necklaces/bracelets with the full 108 beads (one = wholeness, zero = emptiness, eight = infinity, plus a lot of other reasons for the number 108) to use as a meditation tool. Then we...
Continue readingFiesta con Tamales!
Excursión MFS filled the hallways with the wonderful smells of homemade tamales, flan cake, guacamole, and churros cookies today. We cooked a feast! After a wonderful week with an enthusiastic group of students, we sat and enjoyed one another over a delicious meal....
Continue readingYoga Retreat Day 4: Horseback Riding through Nature
Today we started off with a vinyasa practice with awesome music to wake everyone up. After breakfast, we worked on making some yoga-inspired jewelry. Then, we had a lecture on the levels of listening (ignoring, pretending, selective, attentive, and empathic), which we followed by empathically listening to each other in small groups. To connect...
Continue readingSacred Spaces Philadelphia: Highlights
We concluded our exploration of Sacred Spaces with a an enjoyable visit to the Penn Museum. The museum has three floors of gallery space that feature materials from the ancient Mediterranean World, Egypt, the Near East, Mesopotamia, East Asia, and Mesoamerica. You can also find artifacts from the indigenous peoples of Africa and Native...
Continue readingTeam Museum Wraps It Up
We have finished a wonderful week of intellectual explorations. Thank you to everyone!...
Continue readingA Wonderful End to a Fabulous Week
Today, we presented our projects and PSAs, everything from Canine Epilepsy Awareness to Doggie Olympics to a very pretty water park for dogs. Also Mr. Sussman brought his wonderful dog Boo (after Boo Radley) and his even more wonderful daughter Anna. We had breakfast and wrote thank you notes. It was a good end...
Continue readingCousin’s Grocery Store and Cooking
Cousin’s Grocery Store Today we created a grocery shopping list for our fiesta tomorrow. We divided the list into different groups and had a competition to see who would find all of their items first. Michél and Assata won. We headed back to school and had lunch and began prepping the food. Julianna, Kendall,...
Continue readingThe Final Day of Blacksmithing
Today, Jack, Christian, and Jakob worked diligently on household utilities such as a fireplace poker and a spatula. Bruce brought the cows over to the forge area to keep us company and to graze new lands. Some brave blacksmiths even went over to confront the animals and became friends. Liz, Robbie, Roman, and Tanay...
Continue readingWrapping It Up: The Final Knot
On this last day of Quilting, we spent the day cleaning up and finishing up some projects. We saw a 7th grade Intensive Learning play. Afterwards, we went home with our mini individual projects, such as: pin cushions, pillows, etc. Our long week of hard work has finally come to a close....
Continue readingBlacksmithing: HOT METAL
“Hot metal!” was the phrase of the day, a safety mantra to keep people out of harm’s way! We started our IL adventure at the Harriton House by learning a bit about the history of the grounds, which date to the early 1700s. We then were shown some ideas for what we could...
Continue readingWrapping Up a Busy Week With Studies of East Asia
We are going out again on the fifth day! The first place to go will be the University of Pennsylvania East Asian Civilization Dept. We listened to three speakers talk about Chinese poems, Study of Japan, and Asian Buddhism. After that, we went to a Japanese Tea House, which has authentic Japanese style architecture,...
Continue readingExploring Art: Putting the final touches on our projects
Today we stayed on campus to complete all of our projects both individual and group — photography, sculpture, mandalas and totems abound! It was a great way to end our week of exploration and creation. The photos say it all …...
Continue readingWhat Does it Take to Keep a Tall Ship Up and Running?
It started raining and thundering today, keeping us from applying the final coats of Penetrol to the spars. We were able to move some smaller pieces of the boat undercover, where some of us scraped some paint off the wood and then repainted it. Those of us outside got drenched in horizontally-falling rain water, so it...
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