We had a great time on our end of year campout! On Monday, each Outdoor Education group shared what they had learned over the course of the year with the K/4 students, and everyone enjoyed eating popcorn and drinking 'tiger's milk' around the fire.

The older students camped in primitive shelters on the mountain, where they cooked over an open fire and spent time playing TEAM games and practicing camp craft. They also worked in groups on a multi-day project to construct rafts using only water bottles and found materials.

Make-up days can be fun!

The backpacking group recently hiked to Eden Rock at the top of the mountain above our school - what a view!

Caring for the goats, tending to the garden, collecting eggs from the chickens for our breakfast which we cooked on an outdoor wood stove, creating a salad with wild and garden greens, fishing in the lake, making candles and baskets, preparing herbal medicine... what a great time!

Ms. Katherine's math class has been working on creating scale models from house floor plans. We even outlined a full-sized version in the grass using wooden stakes and string.

The 5/6 class created an experiment to study the effects of hand washing on the spread of disease. They covered their hands in purple paint, which represents the presence of germs. One at a time, students were blindfolded and then allowed to wash their hands.

The results were quite revealing! After 2 seconds, 99% of the paint (germs) remained, after 7 seconds about 50% remained, and after 10 seconds 40-50% still remained.

This led to an interesting discussion about the importance of proper hand-washing techniques. How much time do you normally take to wash your hands? Hmmm....

Ms. Mae, our dear TLC foster grandmother, is moving to Seattle to live with her daughter. On Tuesday we gathered to send her off and sing to her, "So long, farewell!"

On Sunday (3.14) several TLC students participated in a Pi Day celebration at the Asheville Pizza Co. Congratulations to Liza, who placed 2nd in the Pi recitation contest (to the 81st decimal place!), and Eli, who placed 1st in the pie eating contest!

Strong winds made for an interesing and exciting chess class on Monday!

Our middle-schoolers recently took a trip to the UNCA library to gather information for their research paper. Thanks to Dr. Fahmy for all of your kindness and help!

We have started rehearsing for this year's musical, The Sound of Music, and we are excited to be working with our new choreographer, Leslie Rogers! Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do...

Thanks to Dr. Jim Pitts, former Vice-Chancellor of UNCA, for speaking to our students today about the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

On Monday in Outdoor Education we celebrated the end of the semester with a fire circle. We talked about our favorite experiences of the semester, and we created a medicine wheel with natural items that represent the things that we've learned and the ways that we've grown. We also enjoyed a big game of camouflage with the whole group!

We recently celebrated Thanksgiving with a feast in Eden Hall that included a musical performance by our students.

The 'Fire' group recently enjoyed camping at one of the primitive shelters on the property above our school. We spent time practicing wilderness skills - we constructed a debris hut, made baskets and cordage, practiced stalking and camouflage, and cooked over an open fire which we started with a bow drill.

From art class to math and science, here are a few pictures from our latest lessons.

Thanks to Ms. Lois, we have been learning a lot about the life cycle and migratory patterns of the monarch butterfly. We grew milkweed in our garden, which the monarch caterpillars feed on. We watched as the caterpillars formed their chrysalises and then waited patiently for the butterflies to emerge. We tagged several butterflies and then released them so that they can be tracked on their journey south to Mexico. Our students are excited about participating as 'citizen scientists' in the ongoing data collection program. For more information visit the University of Kansas Monarch Watch website.

This week in one of the elementary math classes, students worked with their homemade number cards 1-30. Each card has all the possible arrays that an number can make. For instance, the 9 card has a 1x9, 9x1, and a 3x3 on it. The 11 card only has a 1x11 and 11x1, while 12 has 1x12, 12x1, 2x6, 6x2, 3x4, and 4x3.

Students worked alone or with a partner to sort (classify) their cards in many ways... even and odd numbers, multiplies of 5s, etc. Eventually students sorted according to the number of arrays each number had, ending up with 3 groups: those numbers with 2 arrays, those numbers with more than 2 arrays, and the third group was for any number that didn't fit either criteria. Can anyone guess what number(s) that might be? Go to the blog and reply to this entry. Let's see who posts the answer first... a student or a parent!

This week in Outdoor Education the 'River' group went whitewater rafting on the French Broad River and then camped out in Hot Springs. It was a great trip! The rapids were thrilling, the food was first-class (pineapple upside-down cake for breakfast), and the company was outstanding!