Nature Hike

As usual we met at 8:00 AM for a brief staff meeting before breakfast. We heard the message for the day (see above) and the journal from July 2.  Jackson, our newest team member, also introduced himself. We were all very happy to have him on board. Dorota gave us more information about the afternoon hike so that we had a better idea of what were in for. The most important part of the meeting was to begin planning for the July 4 party that we volunteers will host. Brandon and Gillian graciously offered to coordinate the festivities, as we all agreed to meet again on this topic after the evening meal.

Following breakfast we ten volunteers set up for an active morning of teaching seven classes of students. The classes had been adjusted somewhat from the day before because of Jackson’s arrival. The teachers used various approaches to help students improve their English skills. Reports included:

Lori – worked with phrasal verbs and the students read and discussed an article describing the history of the origins of the bagel – both its Polish history and then how it got to the United States;

Nancy, David, Beverly, Brandon, Val and Gillian – these three classes had activities that were parallel for a significant extent. Their teaching activities include discussion of the students’ rigorous school curriculum; professions the students are interested in and much to the volunteers’ surprise how specific some of the students are already about what they will study at the university; favorite music; places they want to visit around the world and the U.S. states they would like to visit; and descriptions of their homes. Two of the classes also went to the town center where Brandon tried the foods that the students chose to buy there.

The “upstairs” classes taught by Kathy and Martha had a discussion about the camp initiation activity as well the trip into Zakopane to walk Krupówki Street.  In Martha’s class the students broke into two groups divided by gender and each drew their ideal town – an activity which will be continued until the following day so that more detail can be added to the ideal towns.

Following a walk to town the class created a list of what they had seen which was then posted on the wall so they can continue to review new vocabulary. Then the students and teachers both enjoyed a game of Scrabble.

Jackson—after introductions the students identified English words starting with each letter of their name as well as Jackson’s name. They also put together a U.S. state map puzzle and Jackson provided the history of some state names and how their boundaries were established.

After lunch the students and most of the volunteers headed by bus to the trailhead for Dolina Kościelisko for hike. We were led by a professional guide who was very knowledgeable about peoples and industries of the valley, including how sheep are kept safe by both dog and their shepherd. Four volunteers – Val, Jackson, Gillian, and Brandon – hiked through the cave with most of the students. Two other volunteers walked to where the cavers returned to the trail, and three other volunteers took shorter hikes.