Walden West Reflections
Fifth grade science camp is a rite of passage that Village School students look forward to for years, as they advance through grade levels. Now that the anticipation is over, the week away has come to a close and the exuberance has died down, our fifth graders have taken an opportunity to reflect on the experience. Read what they have to say…
Walden West
By Sara C.
I had many moments at Walden West, and most of them were pleasant, and all of them were of course memorable. I really enjoyed being a hopper (kind of like a waiter but not exactly the same.) It was fun to bring things to and from the table that I was hopping. But a little on the down side of being a hopper was that no one needed refills on anything, so I just kind of stood there next to my table for most of breakfast. Another thing that I enjoyed about Walden West was (the food) and the epic journey. I really liked the epic journey, it kind of felt like we went backpacking, well minus the sleeping, breakfast, dinner, and a huge backpack half the weight and size of myself. But still… I really enjoyed Walden West, and I hope to be a cabin leader some day (and to hug Sasquatch again) and I can’t wait to go back next year in sixth grade.
Walden West
By: Makayla H.
I loved everything at Walden West,but these are my top four. One part I loved was staying in the cabin, and talking with my new friends. And some of my old friends that I’ve know for a couple of years. Another part that I also loved was field class, I loved going hiking and exploring the woods. And the last part was in Cabin Jeopardy and other games we earned bling, and I will always remember the new friends I made.
Walden West
By: Sohum
My experience at Walden West was great, I loved it so much. My favorite part was hiking in field class. My Field Instructor was Raven. At Walden West everyone got to choose a nature name. A nature name is a name that has to do with nature, that everyone calls you in field class, in your cabin or just in general at Walden West for the week. My nature name was Gemini, the constellation. Then after field class we had our meal. We had breakfast, lunch and dinner. We had mac and cheese, pizza, chicken teriyaki, tacos, salad, hot dogs, hamburgers, oatmeal, waffles, pancakes, cheesy eggs, fruit and more. There always was a vegetarian and allergy friendly alternative. We sang songs and did some dances. It was so much fun. There were a lot of other things we did as well.
My experience at Walden West was great and I loved it so much.
My Walden West Experience
By: Layla D.
My Walden west experience was something I will never forget. I saw so many plants and animals and learned so many new things. Most importantly, I made so many new friends. One of my favorite times at science camp was the songs. It was so fun to sing and dance and to not worry that you were going to get laughed at. Another thing I really enjoyed was the hikes. The hikes were so unforgettable. We went on the creek hike, that was my favorite hike. We went on the night hike, that was scary at first, but I got used to it and we saw so many nocturnal animals. We saw 234 millipedes. Did you know if you shine a blacklight on the millipedes, at night, than they glow in the dark?! It was so cool. Being a hopper was also pretty fun. A hopper is where someone serves their table. They serve, they refill, and they take the extra dishes to the kitchen window. The sleeping arrangements were AMAZING! I got to sleep two nights on the bottom bunk, but on the top bunk the other two nights. And the best part of all, I had one special friend supporting me through the entire trip. She slept next to me, she sat next to me when she could, and she made my whole experience that much better.
My Experience at Walden West
By: Carter C.
Walden West is an amazing experience. It is fun, exciting and exhilarating. Walden West is all about the outdoors. They only had a phone up at the hub. We could get in trouble or we could get rewarded at the hub. When you get sent to the hub it’s like getting sent to the principal’s office. It’s scary or nice. When you get rewarded you get different stamps for each day. With the stamps you get to eat first. Once I got in trouble for putting a sleeping bag over my head and walking around. Alpaca (my cabin leader) thought it was dangerous so I got sent to the hub. I put my name on a list and right before recess that day they called my name (and a lot of other kids) to sharpen pencils. You might think that’s harsh but it wasn’t. I played football that recess, it was fun. We had a lot of space to play.
At Walden West you hike a lot with your field instructors. My field instructor names were Bat, Space and Blossom. I had a fun time learning each others’ nature names. Mine was Cobra. My friends had nature names, one was Boulder another Utter and so on. In my field class the people were Tiny Twig, Boulder, Tiger Lily, Utter (the cow kind), Gecco, me (Cobra), Turtle and I can’t remember the rest. My cabin name was Bobcat and our cheer was “we are bob we are cat we are the bobcats”. We did a hike called the night hike. It was fun. What we did for the night hike was Space set out candles in a row till you got too another group of people. I loved the night hike. I saw beauty of what I couldn’t see and I saw beauty of what I could see, it was just amazing. I went on the night hike with Turtle. He was a little scared and wanted a partner so when nobody raised their hand I couldn’t resist but raise mine. That was the highlight of my adventure along with what Space called the card hike. We went up a long winding hill with cards along the way. My favorites were “please don’t flip this card over”, and on the back it said “what, I told you not to flip the card over why are you so bad at following instructions now flip this card over for the next person”, “look an alligator, got you” and “look around you, can you count how many shades of green you see?”
Walden West is the place to go if you’re looking for adventure. Writing this brought back many good memories about Walden West! Thank you for reading this article in the Village Voice!
Walden West
By Jamie E.
At first I was worried to go to Walden West and be away from my family for a week, but after the first day I got over the fear. Most of the days we would wake up around 6:40, and get ready and dressed. Then all of the campers, staff, and teachers would go to the dining hall and eat breakfast (the food is delicious). After breakfast we would go to field class. Field class is basically school but, instead of being inside and learning stuff like math we go on hikes and learn about nature. Then we would hike back to the dining hall to eat lunch. After we ate, we would go to another field class. After that we would eat dinner and get ready for bed. You have to take a two minute shower! It’s kind of hard but, I got used to It. After everyone was ready for bed we would do a different activity every night. My favorite one was probably the night hike. The night hike is exactly what it sounds like, going on a hike at night. It was kind of scary but, it was a new experience and it’s good to try something new every once in awhile. After that we would go to bed and fall asleep while a cabin leader would be reading a book.
One nice thing about Walden West is that they have special foods for kids with allergies and everything is peanut free! This was great for me because I have an allergy. I was sad to leave Walden West but I made new friends and finally got to have the experience of a lifetime I wanted since kindergarten.
