Upper School Students Bond During Trips

9/14/2018

Last week’s Upper School class trips were full of adventure and excitement: The freshman class enjoyed an overnight retreat, while sophomores visited several New York City sites, and juniors challenged themselves on a ropes course.

The trips, which took place on Friday, September 7, are an annual tradition during the first week of the academic year.

Grade 9 students embarked on a two-day trip to the Greenkill Outdoor Education Center in the Catskill Mountains in Huguenot, NY. The site includes three lakes, hiking trails, several large playing fields, and more.

* Click here to view and download the complete gallery of photos from the freshman trip. Photos courtesy of Upper School Visual Arts Teacher Rachel Langosch *

The 116 freshmen and 15 advisors spent the first day bonding during team-building challenges. The students chose from a variety of options, including scenic waterfall and rock pool hikes, canoeing, kayaking, archery, carpet ball tournaments, survival skills training and campfire building. Other activities included climbing a wooden tower and a “giant’s ladder” as part of a ropes course.

On Friday evening, the class gathered for campfire games, and on Saturday morning, the students collaborated with their peers to design and build cardboard boats, which advisors then raced in a cardboard boat regatta on a lake. The race was close, but after a short deliberation by the judges, Team 5 was awarded the trophy.

During the final group reflection, students spoke, sang songs and created skits about their time at Greenkill, expressing gratitude and appreciation for the time they shared together.

“Throughout the retreat, the freshmen maintained a spirit of positivity and inclusivity,” highlighted Shelly Kaye, Dean of the Class of 2022. “They took risks and eagerly engaged in new experiences, shared of themselves and learned from others, showed kindness, compassion and vulnerability, strengthened longstanding friendships and forged new ones. What a truly remarkable way to begin the year!”

Tenth graders, meanwhile, traveled to New York City in their advisory groups to bond as a group and to have fun, says Eric Shear, Dean of the Class of 2021. Each group pursued independent activities. Some groups strolled along the High Line elevated park and then visited Chelsea Market. Another group visited the Museum of Modern Art. Many groups spent some time in parks, including Washington Square Park.

“A few groups opted to play Escape the Room, a game in which each team solves puzzles to complete a task in order to ‘escape the room,’ " Mr. Shear said.

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A few photos from last Friday’s Junior Class trip to Boundless Adventures, a high ropes course in Purchase! Thanks to Mr. Carnevale for sharing.
A post shared by The Masters School (@mastersschool) on Sep 12, 2018 at 12:48pm PDT

On Friday afternoon, the junior class headed for Boundless Adventures, a high-ropes course in Purchase, NY. The students engaged in healthy risk-taking while wearing harnesses and traversing obstacle courses 40 feet high in the air, according to Jeff Carnevale, Dean of the Class of 2020.

Each course consisted of a number of obstacles, developed to test participants’ boundaries.