The Class of 2017 has a lovely tradition of a class camping trip as a way to reconnect over the summer.  Our adventurous crew has camped at French Creek,MauchChunkLake, and this year, some of the rising fourth graders and their families took a trip to Dingman’s Ferry in the Pocono Mountains in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.  The setting on the banks of the Delaware was breathtakingly idyllic, and with perfect (albeit hot!) weather all weekend, the children pretty much spent their time in the river which didn’t get any deeper than about 2 or 3 feet all the way across to New Jersey.

It is hard to describe the joy of watching your children sitting in a circle in the middle of the river in deep conversation, as we adults relaxed on shore. The campground, with its wooded hills, meadow, and, of course, the river provided endless opportunities for both wet and dry exploration.  We took in a presentation about bats, roasted marshmallows, star-gazed and put on shows by flashlight for each other. We also ventured to an off-the-beaten-path preserved 18th century village, where we stepped back in time (a wonderful foreshadowing of the local geography and history unit to come this year) stopping at a waterfall on the way back to the campground.   Most impressive was the family who, never having camped before, dove right in undaunted by the rustic environment.  As children these days spend less and less time outdoors, it is a blessing to belong to a community that so fully embraces both nature and each other.  

(All photography by Dave Moser)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 14th, 2012 at 3:08 pm and is filed under Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.