SELS Summit Day

brought to you by the Bell Crew/First Grade…

Who: Entire SELS student body and staff members

What: First annual SELS Summit Day

Where: All-day hike to Castle Pass

When: Tuesday, October 28th

Why: To experience ADVENTURE, CHALLENGE and COMMUNITY!

How: With the help of amazing staff, parent drivers and chaperones!

The first annual SELS Summit Day served as the final product of the first graders’ expedition, entitled “I Love the Mountains!” The expedition focused on goal setting, adventure and developing a sense of place through the mastery of local geographical landmarks– specifically, the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In the week preceding the event, the first graders made goal-setting presentations to each SELS crew (K-8). The presenters used first-hand experiences to demonstrate how breaking a goal into manageable parts makes an impossible goal feel possible. In addition, the first graders presented their own hand-drawn “peaks profile” to teach their peers how to identify the main peaks visible in our area. SELS students used the profile as a resource on Summit Day to identify local mountains.

Through the expedition, the first graders aimed to answer two guiding questions:

  • How do challenges make us stronger?
  • What is special about our Sierra Nevada Mountains?

Case study #1 involved goal-setting, adventure and self-challenge. We worked with local mountaineering experts to learn the process of setting and attaining goals, and we put our goal setting to the test by hiking two local peaks. Case study #2 focused on local geography and establishing a sense of place. We learned terrain vocabulary as well as became experts at identifying the local peaks from Castle Peak to Tinker Knob.

Summit Day proved to be a wonderful example of the beauty and strength of our community. Up on Castle Pass, the first-grade crew shared poetry and a song demonstrating their love for the Sierra Nevada Mountains before facilitating a moving time of solitude and reflection for close to 250 students and staff. Students of all ages shared written reflections on personal challenge and growth. The snow-capped peaks were shining in all their glory, and the brilliant sunshine seemed to pierce the bluest sky we had seen in days. It was a moment of pure bliss.

 “Before Summit Day, I just thought of fieldwork as a neat part of our school’s curriculum. But after sitting on the crest of Castle Saddle, surrounded by breath-taking views, and hearing the depth of the reflections that students shared from their solitude and reflection time, I recognized how truly transformative fieldwork can be.”  –Holguin Crew Parent

 

Thank you, SELS Community!