A Week on East Tack
The Class of 2017 visits Hermit Island, ME.
The High Mowing School buses trundled onto the dirt roads of the Hermit Island Campground early Sunday afternoon, the Senior Class ready for a week of marine biology on the coast of Maine.
Setting up camp on East Tack Way went smoothly and once camp was up and running, the High Mowing School Class of 2017 and four other graduating Waldorf classes gathered at the ‘Kelp Shed’ (a misnomer for the classroom and recreation building where the schools spent much of their class time on Hermit Island). Longtime Hermit Island administrator and self-titled ‘Mr. Ed’ introduced himself and the faculty members, played guitar, and spoke to the group about collective faculty expectations for the week.
The schools were then split up into their working groups for the week, with members of the HMS class segmented into smaller marine themed groups with the other schools; the Milky Ribbon Worms, the Barnacles, Atlantic Dogwinkles…
Introductions were made within each working group, each student offering a goal for their final year of high school.
“To graduate!” most said.
Once everyone was acquainted each group was asked to silently remove their shoes and make their way out to the beach to wade into the icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Underneath the bright ribbon of the Milky Way, the groups dipped their feet into the cold waves and hurriedly returned to the warmth of a fire-lit Kelp Shed. Mr. Ed played light guitar as the group filled the room. The first night on Hermit Island came to a close after music, poetry, and a round of group singing.
The next days were a blur of microscope labs, tide pools, campfires and singing. Every morning at 5:30am the seniors would help prepare breakfast for each other and get ready to hike to the ‘Kelp Shed’ for their morning Block Class.
Every day the students were challenged with a different topic, ranging from squid dissection to mollusk observation!
After morning Block and Lab, our tired and hungry students would hike back to camp for a prepared meal from our Kitchen-Staff-on-the-Road Alex McKaughan. (He prepared incredible meals for our 30+ students every day, all week!)
Early every afternoon the week’s working groups would trek their way out to the northern edge of Hermit Island. After 30 minutes of walking along rocky trails atop the seaside cliffs, the groups found themselves at the teeming tide pools of the North Atlantic.
It was here that the students put their newfound knowledge to the test. Picking their way through the seaweed-matted rocks, members of the group would call out excitedly when they had identified a new life form in the tide pool.
After three days of this same trip, the students could identify most of the creatures and seaweed they found without opening their field guides! On the fourth and final tide pool visit, the groups were asked to draw the cliffs. Each student found their favorite spot and spent two hours drawing the cliff faces and tide pool regions, labeling the four tidal zones on their drawings.
The days wouldn’t just stop there! After returning from the tide pools and working groups, the students who weren’t helping prepare dinner had a little downtime before eating.
Once the post-dinner crew had cleaned the dishes and campsite, it was time for the High Mowing School students to meet up with the larger group for community time around the fire.
Each group brought a song to share at the first community gathering.
Accompanied by HMS English teacher and trip chaperone Nehemiah Stark on the mandolin, the High Mowing students sang a traditional West African song “Mau’wea Mau’wea.”
Mau’wea’s closest translation in English is “I see you” but means “I see you for who you are, I see your ancestors, I see your mistakes, and your triumphs”
The following night (after a full day of classes and tide pool research) the schools gathered in the Kelp Shed to hear from local novelist James L. Nelson and non-fiction writer Elisabeth Tova Bailey. Both spoke about their unique forays into writing and read excerpts from their latest books.
That evening closed with a secret lab.
Each school was asked to be silent as they were lead through the dark to the Yardarm Dock on the Southern edge of Hermit Island. Every student silently lay face down on the edge of the dock and were instructed to splash their hand in the cool, dark waters.
Gasps of amazement.
The churned waters lit up with the bright bodies of bio-luminescent plankton and glowing Comb Jellyfish reacting to the movement in the water. The students were only allowed limited time with the phenomenon so that each school could come individually to experience the glowing algae. Awestruck, the students returned to camp for their penultimate night on Hermit Island.
After the regular morning Block Classes, the five schools returned to the ‘Kelp Shed’ after lunch for the dirtiest activity yet: The Mudflat Lab (and so-called ‘frolic’).
Holding hands, the class waded into thick mud; the mission: each person to find one worm and one oyster in the mudflats. The task was more difficult and dirtier than one would think!
The further out each student went, the mud got thicker and deeper, further impeding the search for life.
Then the whistle was (literally) blown and the transition from Mudflat Lab to Mudflat Frolic began; after a week of hard work in the tide pools and labs, the students (and faculty) relished some time to just mess around!
After a mud rinse-off in the cold Atlantic and their final dinner, the class reconvened with the other schools for a joyful Contra dance in the ‘Kelp Shed’ featuring a professional caller and live band! The final evening came to a close with the schools gathered around a bonfire on the beach.
The next morning they had their closing classes and an opportunity to share the poetry and art they had created over the course of the week.
With that, the schools packed up the rest of their campsites and made the journey home.
For more images from the trip, visit the High Mowing School Flickr
