Experiential Learning is About Adaptability

The second full morning of Project Week broke clear and cold. I woke early to bring a student into meet her brave Winter-X companions, who had just spent the night at Jeffer's Brook Shelter in temperatures that dropped to the negative teens. We arrived to find the group in good spirits, but definitely chilled. The unseasonably low temperatures forced us to make a spot decision; the group would remain in the field for the day and get warm by enjoying a hike up Blueberry Mt, but I would return in the afternoon (with pizza!) to bring them back to campus. In the end, safety and group morral were more important than trying to tough it out for another night.

Experiential learning is meant to show students what life is really like, and in real-life you cannot plan for all eventualities. You do your best, you plan for what you know, and then accept and deal with the unknown as it comes your way. If things don't go as planned, that's OK. It's not a failure to change course, to adapt, or to come back and try something again later. Failure would be to stay the course even though all signs are telling you to change directions. When it comes to safety, those decisions are easy. In other aspects of experiential learning, those decisions might not be so clear. We learn more from what doesn't work than from what does. I encourage all Huskies to try new things, evaluate, adjust, and try again. That's when true learning happens!

Mr. Joslin

Explore, Educate. Experience.

Create Music in a Professional Recording Studio: Final Projects

Check out the music the students produced during Project Week!




Which is your favorite track? Let us know in the comments!

Final Cut: Live, Laugh, Die

Video of Husky III's Flight

A big thanks to Hans Mundahl for editing the raw footage into this video. Another big thanks to Steve Fay and Adam Tyson for taking this project on and turning it into a big success. And yet another huge thanks to the students that believed in themselves and worked together to do something incredible here in Husky Nation!

Enjoy!

Kids Helping Kids: "A Look Back and to the Future"

Kids Helping Kids - Final Presentation from Hans Mundahl

Shanghai Reflections

During our time in Shanghai, the downtown presented us with one of the most impressive displays of high rise architecture on Earth. By day the group explored the Nanjing Street shopping district, the Yu Garden, Chenghuang Temple and surrounding market, as well as making a trip to the world's highest occupied floor, in the World Financial Center. Given that the city's tallest structures have been erected just recently, the decor and technology was quite impressive.

At night, the  city's buildings glow tactfully presenting a nightly light display over the river. The group felt fortunate to spend several afternoons and evenings exploring various districts of Pudong and Puxi, split by the Huangpu River. Highlights included a night river tour, allowing us to fully take in the light display, as well as trying numerous regional culinary cuisines; with Mongolian hot pot being one of the groups overall favorites and Mrs Pechenick's preferred Hunan style being the most entertaining as we all tested our thresholds for spice.

Shanghai to Hangzhou

Arriving at the Hong Qiao Train Station, attached to the Hong Qiao airport, we were reminded of the incredible developments China continues to make to its mass transportation system, especially its railways. Katie was able to locate another Starbuck's, providing David, Ellis, and she with western comfort before boarding. This sense of familiarity is quite easily found in Shanghai.

We were herded out onto the (three year old?) Bullet Train, scrambling with our passports, uncertain as to whether they would be needed to board. Our experience riding the train and subway has made us aware of the importance of appearance and seeming formalities that are not really enforced.

We were on the train for mere minutes before we were being shuttled off to the smaller HangZhou (population 4 million) through 100 miles of urban sprawl. Though efficient and comfortable, our hopes of escaping the smog were unfounded.

While awaiting a cab in a cue of thousands we were conflicted of whether to give to the barrage of disabled beggars who approached us. It is known that such beggars may be part of an underground business. After 30 minutes of trying to hold our ground in line we split ourselves into two cabs and were whisked off to the Holiday Inn.

Xi Hu (West Lake) is the main attraction on Hang Zhou. We would negotiate a price on five rental bikes that would allow us to explore the perimeter of the lake, at varying paces, through varying levels of congestion. David would test where exactly we were and were not permitted to ride, in an incident where he would be whistled down and redirected by park security.

We all enjoyed the 5-7 miles of biking, with periodic stops along the way for refreshments and leisurely exploration of the park grounds. Hunan cuisine topped off our first evening in Hangzhou, while also testing the groups thresholds for spice.

Husky High Altitude Balloon

Husky III was recovered at 7:30 pm on Merrill Island in the middle of Squam Lake. The balloon had traveled 50 miles. It was found 60 ft high in a maple tree hanging from a lone branch. After several solo attempts by Mr. Fay to retrieve the balloon, it was necessary to call in a professional. Our climber scaled the tree in pitch black dark using the aid of only a headlamp. We appreciate the help of local friend Kevin McBournie who help navigate the search.

Mr. Fay was able to download the data from the GoPro, which revealed some amazing photos of the curvature of the earth. Mission Accomplished.

Photos coming soon.

Movie Trailer: Live, Laugh, Die

After a hard week and a very steep learning curve, the Arsenault/Freeborn movie crew are ready to release this trailer to the public. Please share it with your friends, and come out tomorrow at 10:00am to McEvoy theater to see the full movie. Enjoy!

Upcycled and ready to share!

Some Reflections on the Week

The week flew by, and now that it is the night before the symposium, we thought we would share some reflections and thoughts. Tomorrow we will share more and be selling the items we upcycled to raise money for FOOD for ALL in Ashland.

It’s amazing to go into Meservey and see all of the old stools and science artifacts that were left behind. Taking the stools back to Memorial Hall classroom and brainstorming what we were going to make out of them was difficult. There were many extraordinary ideas. The old lab stools were transformed into amazingly decadent stools. We also received many compliments on the stools, the signs, the baseball bat lights, and the chairs.

I learned a lot of things this week. I learned how to be a good team member and how to upcycle various items like refurbishing a chair. I love this group, and I love upcycling.

I learned skills about what I can do with the stuff that people think they can't use. I found out that I can remake old stuff to make it nice and new. I think if people have creative minds, they can earn money with other people’s trash. This project was a good experience for me. One of the best things was that I worked with my advisor, Mr. Buck.

This week has been a good experience for me. I've learned a lot, including what you have to do to be able to get spray paint to stay, as well as making a lamp out of a baseball bat. The experience I learned from the most was making the baseball bat lamp. Working with Bill and Kelly from maintenance for two days, I learned a lot about electricity. I learned what you need to do to make the lamp possible and how to put that all together. So, all in all, Project Week was pretty fun, and I had a good experience learning about upcycling.

This project has opened my eyes to the world of upcycling. Before the New Hampton Project Week, I only knew a little about what upcycling was and how people do it, but now I know that almost anything can be repurposed, and I now look at "garbage" in a new light. Throughout this project, I have become a "greener" person, and I now have many ideas to bring to these projects, and others into my life at home. This project has been a wonderful experience for me, and I hope that I can continue to use the skills I have learned this week in my life.

Come join us tomorrow so you can see what we did this week. We are all very proud of our accomplishments and we think you will be too!

Thanks, 

Team Upcycle

Kids Helping Kids: Final Day

After my experience at the soup kitchen, I appreciate everything my parents do for me every day, and appreciate the opportunities that I really have. I realized that I have to take full advantage of my opportunity at New Hampton, and even further than that, because not everybody gets a chance like that in their lifetime.

We had an 8am departure from Good Will-Hinckley School.
Most of us fell right asleep on our way to Preble St. soup kitchen.

Claudia, Abby, and Emily help pack
bagged lunches at Preble Street soup kitchen.

Look at all the donated food! The majority of our time
at Preble St. was spent unloading this truck.

We stocked all the donated food in the
basement of Preble Street.

At this point I wanted to leave, but I had a change of heart when all these people began asking what school did we go to and where we were from? They said thank you, talked, and held conversations with us, and they were appreciative for something so simple to me but so big to them.

What a crew! This is the group before returning to Husky Nation. 

Thanks to everyone for keeping a positive attitude and helping others. Can't every week be Project Week?

Make it Grand | Day 5

Time warp. Today went by so fast no one could believe it.

Everyone was trying to finish their projects. It was a day of details and final problem-solving.  Several works are already in the gallery, presented with focused lights and artist statements, the rest will be there by 10:00 AM tomorrow!

This afternoon we finally got off-campus (first time all week) to see two gallery exhibits at the Kimball Jenkins Estate and to have a hibachi grill and sushi dinner at Moritomos, both in Concord.
The students had a new appreciation for the work that goes into a finished piece of art. We all really enjoyed the work of artists Tae Nelson and Charlie Goodwin. Talking to the gallery director, students learned that a gallery takes an average of 50% of the sale price of the art work. Thinking back to the 30+ hours each student had spent on their own pieces this week, they realized why art can be expensive, but is also an investment that doesn't devalue.

Dinner at Moritomos was fun and really really yummy. Ms.Walsh and I thoroughly enjoyed watching Theresa and others experience the hibachi "show"for the first time.

Looking forward to the symposium tomorrow!

 

 Exhausted!

Pictures from Gettysburg Group

Dom and Mr. Sampson standing in front of
a monument to the 5th NH regiment.

Andrew standing in from of the statue of
Robert E. Lee where Lee watched the battle
unfold on the third day of the attack.

Standing where the first shots of the battle were fired.
How cool is that???

We had an awesome tour guide at Gettysburg
who showed us around the battlefield and
shared many interesting stories.

CHARGE!!! Following in the footsteps of Pickett's Charge.

Mr. Fisk channeling his inner Joshua
Chamberlain ordering a bayonet charge on
Little Roundtop at Gettysburg.

Jess at the NH History Museum in a replica
drug store from the late 1800s.

Jason is sitting in a chair that was used in the filming of an
episode from Star Trek: The Next Generation. We visited
the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord.

The group at the NH History Museum - seeing artifacts in
person really brings history to life!

Charge!

The Gettysburg group had a fun time together this week. On Tuesday we traveled to Gettysburg, PA and we participated in a re-enactment of Pickett's Charge, the climatic event of the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Unfortunately, a major snow storm shut down Gettysburg and the DC area so we were not able to go to the park on Wednesday.

Upon returning to New Hampton, the group worked on its project Thursday and then set out to museums in Concord, NH on Friday. We visited the NH History Museum as well as the McAulliffe-Shepard Discovery Center.

By visiting historical sites and museums we gained a deeper appreciation of the material we read about and saw in documentaries.

Video work today for science group

Is science good or bad? That is the question our group has been researching this past week. Today we dedicated time to putting our project together in the form of a movie. Students were individually interviewed and asked if their viewpoints on any of the ethical issues we looked at have changed or not. Hours were spent in the classroom today to finalize our project. We're excited to finish our movie and ready to present it tomorrow at the symposium.

Mowglis reflections

Here are two student reflections about their time helping out at Camp Mowglis...

Today, on our final day at Mowglis, we first started off by completing the painting of the tables and some of the walls we had started on Tuesday. We had a hard time finishing the tables. The reason why was because we had to paint the legs of the table, that required us to get under the table to reach the area. The problem with that was that often getting into the area caused us to get covered in paint. 

After we had completed the painting, the boys went down to the chef's cottage to take down the roof panels. The reason why we were takeing the panels down was because they had a squerill infestation in the roof.

The last thing the boys did was to go down to the lake. Some of them had never been on ice before, so it was a experience for them to be able to walk on the lake. While down there we got to see the final part of camp we had not seen before. It was a very bussy day and we could tell that they appreciated the work we did. 

- Alec W. 

Working at camp Mowglis was hard work but was very rewarding work. We spent a lot of time fixing up the dining room. We spent a lot of our time sanding the tables and painting the tables and walls in the dining room. Also we cleaned up many branches and logs; we got to enjoy a camp fire with all the branches we picked up. One of the groups favorite parts of the project was making s'mores at the camp fire. Even though it was hard work, the group enjoyed helping the camp and walked away feeling good about the work we did! 

- Tori F.

It was a great week and we are all looking forward to the symposium tomorrow!

Makin' It in New York - Back to NH!

Thursday 3/7 the group attended a performance of an off off Broadway play at the Workshop Theater. We were fortunate to be part of a talkback with the playwright, Scott Sickles, and the entire cast of the show. Reflections from Lightning from Heaven...

Adam M.
I thought Lightning from Heaven was really interesting to watch. The theatre was very small and intimate, and it felt like you were right there in Communist Russia. The play was well written and well researched. You could tell that the writer really cared about the characters and the situations discussed in the play.

Dan L.
Lightning from Heaven was a very new experience for me. The theater was very small so the actors were within five feet from you. This made for a very interesting experience for the viewer. I enjoyed the story of the play. The characters were amazing and it made for a very good experience.

Pablo Z.
Lightning from Heaven was a straight play - meaning they do not have music/singing in their play. This was a brand new experience for me, as I have never watched a non-musical performance before. I especially admired the lead female of the play because she was on stage, devoted to the play for the whole time and did not have any free time to rest. The spirit of respecting your job is the most I benefited from watching the show.

Starr P.
Lightning from Heaven was very different than the other shows we watched through the duration of this trip. It had a much different atmosphere compared to Newsies and Once. This play was filled with talented actors and actresses who did an amazing job telling the story. It was a very quiet theater and a more adult topic. Though the play was serious, there were many funny details within it. Afterwards, during the Q and A session, we got to ask the cast questions, which they answered truthfully and gave everyone on the trip a different view of a career in the performing arts.

Alena R.
Lightning from Heaven was very different from the other shows. This play is very serious and for me it was really interesting because I am Russian and they were talking about Russian poet Boris Pasternak. After the play, all the actors were very kind and told us the story of how they got there, and we also spoke to the man who wrote this play.

Mandy B.
Lightning from Heaven was an honestly enjoyable show, although it ran a little long. The acting involved in this play was the best out of all the shows we had seen. The emotions were so real and I believed the chemistry between Olga and Boris. The show had an eerie feel to it and sort of reminded me of "Law and Order" at some parts. As an actress, I appreciated the work that was done before my eyes. I truly admire the actors involved with the show.

Maryna
Lightning from Heaven was completely different from the plays we watched before. The story took place in Russia. I was interested in it, even though the play seemed boring at first. It got more exciting and interesting as it went on.

Nicolas
It was very fun yesterday night. It was interesting to me to see the actors during the play and afterwards get the chance to meet them backstage.

Danny M.
Lightning from Heaven was a great experience; I enjoyed the show very much. This was one of the first straight plays that I enjoyed. While watching it, I felt like I was in the play. It actually made me feel, and changed my emotions. This is the only straight play that has ever done this to me.    

Flavio
Lightning from Heaven was different than the other plays because they did not sing at all and did not dance. It was also a little longer and in a smaller theater than the other plays we saw before. It was also fascinating for me to see how the actors are totally different in person than their stage personalities.

After a long travel day, the Makin' It in New York group is back from their trip!

Shavasana...

We made our way to the Dragon Fly Yoga Barn today in North Sandwich, NH over some of the worst roads we have ever driven. Frost heaves and snow covering the road made our final journey an adventure to remember. When we arrived at the studio, many were feeling sleepy or a little car sick, and energy was very low. Katie O'Connell, owner of the studio and retreat center, gently led us out of our malaise and transformed our beings back into joy filled spirits.

The Yoga Barn is a very special place. Over 200 years old and transplanted from an old farm in Moultonboro, the Barn has been brought to life by Katie and the many people she has taught and retreated with. Small white lights surround the edges of many of the old beams. Statues of Budha, Shakti, and other enlightened ones gently grounded the corners of the room. The French doors and bold windows opened to a startling view of White Face Mountain, and the soft music in the background made it hard to leave.

The yoga today was similar to day one of the retreat but with some added fun. Vigorous Vinyasa Flow worked us out, and then the students enjoyed some inversions and a few partner poses. All in all, it was a great day... and needless to say, we found a different way home!

The Business of Upcycling Slideshow

Check out our YouTube videos!

Here are Claire, Taylor, and Mairead talking about upcycling old Meservey lab stools.

Tomi, Owen, and Teddy teach us all about making baseball bats into lamps.

What can you do with an old vinyl chair? Anton, Jesse, and Aref tell you all about it (in English *and* their native languages).