it's in tents

by Melissa Edwards
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     It's septober. You know what that means. Fall Camping.This year’s camping trip will be rock climbing at Devil's Lake in Wisconsin. The dates this year are Wednesday, October 3rd through Friday, October 5th. Students will leave on Wednesday morning and return Friday afternoon in time to catch the buses back home.

         Devil's Lake is a camping site in Baraboo, Wisconsin. It's about 10,000 acres in size and has a ton of activities for any age.

         "On this trip, we'll be camping, hiking, rock climbing and hopefully visiting the International Crane Foundation," said Mr. Markos, "This trip is a big confidence builder for most of the students. It's the first trip of the year, so it encourages staff and students to get to know each other."

         The International Crane Foundation is a group dedicated to promoting the study and conservation of the world's 15 crane species and the ecosystems on which they depend. The site hosts a flock of around 100 cranes including the only collection of all 15 species assembled.  

         Student, Krystal Garver was able to attend last year's rock climbing trip.

         "I love the camping trips! I went on all of them last year," she comments, "I don't know if I'll be able to go on this trip because I have Harper, but I hope I can find a way!"

         "I'm excited to go on this trip!" states student Ian Stehmeier "I didn't go last year, but I'm going this year."

         Students will bond with other students and staff by doing various activities.

          "I really liked the trip last year," comments Danny Prado, "Being new last year, it helped me get to know the staff and students."

Vanguard's Precious

What better way to kick off the school year than with the commencement of a new Vanguard tradition? Starting last week, Ms. O'neill, Ms DeMeo, Ms. McCann, and Dr. Koralik have implemented a vigorous lesson plan. The school has began reading The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien classic novel about the epic adventures of a young Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins and his comrades. The book is a precursor to the Lord Of The Rings series.

"The teachers were inspired by the One Book One Chicago movement. Our goal is to form an overall connection and help build a stronger sense of community here at Vanguard. At the same time, students are learning about classic literature and assimilating culture through reading," pronounced Ms. O'neill.

The unit is coinciding  with the upcoming release of the first half of Peter Jackson's (director of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy) cinematic interpretation of the same name.

"When Dr. Koralik and I do things like this, it's always for a reason. Expect an 'ending' with us," said Ms. DeMeo to one of her classes on regard of the reasoning behind this unit.

 The teachers have employed  and incorporated various different activities into this awesome lesson. Everything from the use of social media, web hosting, and sketching have been applied so far and it's only the second week.

 But of course, this is merely the beginning  and you can bet that all of our teachers have tons of ideas still up there sleeves. We're going to have to wait and see exactly what they have devised for us. 

The Hobbit: Part 1 comes out December 14, starring Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and Ian McKellen reprising his role as Gandalf.

Students are expected to fully participate in all class activities in order to go on the field-trip to see the film.

I got the chance to speak with two of Vanguard's finest and they shared how they felt about our Hobbit unit.

"It's over three-hundred pages and I'm only on page ten... ugh," divulged Chris Przybylo as he stared at his copy of The Hobbit with disgruntlement.

"The Hobbit is like my all-time favorite book and I am so bummed I'm not able to be a part of this unit. This is such a good book and I hope the students like it as much as I did when I first read it," covetously confessed Mr. Markos. 

By: Eli Martinez