Academy Community Building Trip

Oh my!  What a week!!  I can't believe this is my first day on campus since LAST Friday!  I will say though, even though it was hard to be away, this week demonstrated the power of this program!  Tuesday I visited Hidden Villa Farm with the Sophomores.  We spent the day developing community, building trust and participating in a wide range of activities including a small hike (nothing like the one you guys did) through the farm itself and into the hills.  For our Sophomores, naturally the goal was for them to get to know each other.  You guys, however, already know each other.  Wednesday, in my opinion, was amazing!  We were dropped on Ocean Beach looking over the Pacific Ocean before hiking 5 miles up and down and along the coast through million dollar neighborhoods, on Baker Beach and eventually under the iconic Golden Gate Bridge!  Although challenging at times, the friendly encouragement was nice to see and overall people had positive attitudes from start to finish as we confronted the challenge at hand (even when it seemed like the hike might never end!  Finally, yesterday I witnessed what happens after 2 full years together in the Academy.  Our senior beach day showed the camaraderie that our students have developed as the participated in our 1st annual Academy Olympics, ran along the beach/in the ocean and played some highly competitive teacher vs. student volleyball!  Honestly, looking back on the last three days, they were fantastic!

Today I would like you to take a few minutes and reflect on your activity.  Below are a few questions you can answer, however, feel free to also include any other thoughts/feelings that come to mind.

• For your reader, please describe (objectively) the activity from Wednesday in a few sentences.
• What was the goal of the trip?  Be specific and elaborate,  Do you feel the goal was accomplished?  Explain why or why not?
• Thinking back on the day, how would you rate your participation?  How do you think your level of participation alone can help you succeed at M-A and in life in general?
• What was your favorite aspect of the hike in San Francisco?  Talk about a favorite moment in detail.
• What are three things you would say you learned about yourself or your classmates during Wednesday's activities?  
• Restate your goals for this school year and how you plan to accomplish them - what in the world would our activity have anything to do with you accomplishing your goals for the year?
• Having had a day to recover, what, if anything, would you have changed about our hike in San Francisco?  What do you think would make a successful "community building" day if it weren't a hike?

Again, above are a series of question you can/should respond to but feel free to add any additional comments about your experience.  Thank you for a thorough and thoughtful response.