Intensive Learning @ MFS
The World At Your Fingertips
via Pronica Clothes Lightweight pants, skirts, t-shirts, blouses. We do not recommend bringing more than one pair of shorts, as shorts are not normally worn here and expose one to more sun and bugs. Same goes with tank tops. During meetings with organizations, it is best to not dress too causally. Definitely dress comfortably,...
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Today we visited a school in Chengdu called Dujiangyan yucai high school. We were welcomed by a banner hanging outside of their school and some students who were eagerly awaiting our arrival. The students we met were all juniors because the seniors had to study for their upcoming college entrance exams. After a tour...
Continue readingDay Five-and-a-half We started the morning with Cole’s pancakes. We completed and fixed up the rockets from the first grade classes. We spent the last hour of the day with the first graders helping them to launch their rockets. The week went wonderfully. Thank you to all of the students for their positive, can-do...
Continue readingDay Five We spent our last day at the Harriton House completing projects. Some students finished turning wooden handles for their work while others finished bracelets, canes, etc. Justin Brandon joined us for part of the morning and tried his hand at making a hook. When we returned to MFS for sports, we helped...
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Today our Exploring Art group spent our time in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. After we arrived in the Pine Barrens and had a quick tour of the lake, students began working on their individual or group projects. Regardless of the 30 degree weather, we were able to get a lot of unique...
Continue readingToday Professor Michele Tarter spoke to us about her work with her “wisewomen,” inmates in a women’s maximum security prison in Clinton, NJ. Dr. Tarter brought a sample of the women’s memoirs, called The Pen and the Penitentiary; the writing was memorable and heart-wrenching. The art work was evocative as was the presentation, which...
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Today everyone worked on completing a project for tomorrow’s trip to the Pine Barrens. These projects consisted of creating either an abstract or realism sculpture. Some people worked together, others chose to work alone. The students were offered various options on the type of sculpture they could create, or there was the option to...
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By Sarah Henig, Vanessa, and Kendall On the first full day of service we ate breakfast with our families. Then, we went out to work on the playground at the local school. After a morning of hard work, we took a siesta and had a delicious lunch provided by our family. With the extra...
Continue readingDay Four Today we got to the Harriton House and split between working indoors on wood turning and outdoors doing more with blacksmithing. We got the fires up and running as quickly as possible. As long as you were near the fire it wasn’t too cold. The group inside made bowls and fork handles....
Continue readingMonday’s Petals Bonding with everyone on the trail-Luke All of the farm animals that we saw during the drive up-Katherine Getting the chance to hang out with people that I don’t normally have the chance to see-Emily The scene along the way-Vivian Most, but not all, of the music played in the car ride...
Continue readingAt the Burlington quilt shop we finished our large quilts by adding bedding onto them. We used a giant machine to make seams all over the quilts and to make designs and doodles on the quilt squares. After that we made personalized logos along with our names, the date, and title of our quilts...
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Today we spent the day at Ocean City, NJ. The weather was not ideal; however, we prepared and had back up clothing thanks to Mrs. Edmund’s winter clothes container. Originally, we planned to install our artwork and create projects for 4 hours but the weather cut that number in half. While baring the cold,...
Continue readingThe weather held out today to allow us to spend most of the day out working on the coal forges. Some students finished working on the forks they started on Monday. We also learned how to “upset” the metal to get a thicker section on an end. We returned to school early to be...
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Today, the focus was on preparing for our adventures to Ocean City that awaits us tomorrow. We began with a slideshow, and after that started construction of our sculptures we will install on the beach. Some people built sculptures and some people built tools with which to create sand drawings. After that, we headed...
Continue readingDay Two We returned to the Harriton House today. Our first task was to help clean up the grounds a little due to all of the branches that came down over the winter. Then we set to work getting the fires started. The groups had more success getting the coal burning today. Our...
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