Hello everyone,

Hope you all have enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday! We had a great couple of days before the break ..scroll down to the photos to see some of the things we were up to!

Monday morning was filled with fast paced SPIT card games alongside a group of Telestration enthusiasts (a hilarious mashup of Telephone and artistic attempts). Dawn joined us for a photography session all about taking portraits. We are so grateful for her skills and time! She taught us how to use a diffuser to get perfect lighting, along with lots of tips about backgrounds and positioning. We witnessed spontaneous four-square and chess games, along with a wide variety of card games. Alyssa taught her zoologists all about the phylum Porifera (The Sponges) and will continue teaching about different invertebrate critters. Nicole led her weekly writing workshops where kids shared the comic book characters they have been developing.

Tuesday was our planned field trip to Turtle Island with Rachael and Joshia. I’d like to extend a huge THANK YOU to them both for the interesting, informative, and all around wonderful tour they co-led for us! Before we left we squeezed in a Sign Language class (thanks Rachael!) and a film about Native Americans courtesy of Rebekah. At Turtle Island we enjoyed a walking tour, followed by lunch at the rustic  outdoor kitchen, and lots of playing on the variety of outdoor toys. Turtle Island is better explained in pictures, so see below for more details about our trip!

Some kids will be going to the Humane Society again this Tuesday (for a volunteer activity decorating cat and dog stockings). The following week we will begin bringing small groups to volunteer at the Hunger and Health Coalition…our first two visits will be December 4 and 11. Many of our kids are excited about getting involved in community service! Dawn, our photographer volunteer, will be coming to Wildwood on a regular basis for the rest of this semester and the spring semester as well, to help interested kids develop their photography skills. She’ll be bringing all her indoor portrait equipment on Monday Dec. 3, to show kids how to use them and take some indoor Wildwood portraits!

We have one more week to collect orders for our Camp Coffee Roasters fundraiser before forms are due to the Campbells on Dec. 3! The best way to make this successful for Wildwood is to bring forms to workplaces and local businesses (to circulate and gather a group order), and offer to deliver the coffee to them when it’s roasted. If you’d like to post places you’ve already brought forms to on our Wildwood ALC Families Facebook page, then others will know where they don’t need to visit. If you need help delivering to places you’ve sold to, I’m sure others in the WW community can help deliver…just ask! You can print the forms out at home or get extra forms at Wildwood.

Here is a description of the coffees in the holiday blend, in case people you’re selling to would like to know more about them: it is a blend of three medium roast coffees that Jason chose to be sure to please a broad spectrum of coffee drinkers…including a Rain Forest Alliance Certified coffee from Brazil, a direct trade Honduran coffee certified organic through the Comsa Farmers Coop of Honduras, and an Ethiopian coffee grown and processed in the traditional, environmentally friendly methods of coffee farming in the region.

Thanks so much for your efforts to help raise these needed funds, and thanks to the Campbells for their generosity in giving us this opportunity!

Warmly,

Alyssa

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

• Our Community Member Meeting is this Sunday, December 2 at 3:30-5:30pm…please let Rebekah know by tomorrow (Monday) if your child(ren) will be coming with you so she can make sure to have enough sitters…thank you!

COMING UP:

Tuesday, Nov. 27:  Humane Society visit

Sunday, December 2: Community Member Meeting, 3:30-5:30pm 

December 3: Coffee Fundraiser order forms/checks due!

December 4: Small group visit to volunteer at Hunger and Health Coalition

December 11: Small group visit to volunteer at Hunger and Health Coalition

Dec 3-13  Parent/Child/Facilitator Meetings: We will be scheduling short (30 minutes) end-of-semester meetings with each child and parent/guardian and a facilitator over the last couple weeks before winter break. This will be a chance to talk together and reflect on each child’s experience over the first few months of Wildwood, as well as ideas for future plans/goals.

Wildwood 2018-19 Calendar:

Dec. 13       Last Day before Winter Break
Jan. 7          First Day back after Winter Break
Jan. 21        Holiday (MLK Jr. Day)
March 4-5   Wildwood Closed
April 22-25 Spring Break
May 22        Last Day of Wildwood

Intense SPIT card game where players rapidly follow the pattern of the cards and strategically attempt to discard their cards first, with copious giggling of course	Telestrations: kind of like pictionary telephone (switching back and forth from drawings to words with hilarious results)
Gaining some “perspective” about depth in drawing while playing with angles of his comic book character	London sharing the progression of his Telestrations notepad. It’s always hilarious to see how differently people think about what a picture or word represents
Intense Chess games with so many different strategies	We literally couldn’t stop it, but who would?
Emma took the initiative and introduced four square to Wildwood. This was totally spontaneous and…	We all loved it! If your kids have any ideas for games at Wildwood encourage them to share.
Dawn helps us practice taking portraits with a diffuser to soften the light
A sweet action shot by photographer Owen W	Stellar skills and photography are present here! Photographer Owen C
Turtle Island!	Learning about the cabins from Rachael
Log cabin made in the style of the 1700’s	Inside the log cabin, walls were painted white to maximize the reflection of light inside
Cob house which is sustainable and naturally insulated.	Talking about what it means to be “off the grid” and alternate sources of energy (solar, water power)
Where Joshia, Rachael and Cameron lived last year!	Joshia explained how their rain water catchment system functioned to supply water to their off grid (former) home
We had lots of fun playing with nature	So much appreciation for puppy love!
Exploring every nook and cranny in the diverse cabins at Turtle Island
Checking out the big wood carving tool	Lots to see in the blacksmiths area
Just hanging with a smile	Swinging with good friends after lunch
The Playhouse. Joshia gave a few of us a quick tour of his cabin for an all boys camp he attended.	He also showed us the “Ins”and “Outs”