Pioneer Days

Today I was able to meet Cameron at his first field trip as a student at Bethany Christian.  The 4th and 5th grade went to Camp Mack and much to Cameron's delight they did not have to run the two mile cross country challenge.  Instead they spent time learning skills that pioneers would have used and also did some team building activities.  I was very impressed with the activities of the day and Cameron remarked several times about how much he enjoyed it. 

The first activity for 5th grade was to make homemade cornbread.  Not only did they make it from scratch, they even used the hand cranked corn husking machine and corn grinder to make the cornmeal.  The cornbread was cooked oven the open fire using the coals and an iron skillet.  We all got a taste when it was done and were very impressed.  While the cornbread was cooking the students also made butter in a jar.  Many of them then tried buttermilk.  I told Cameron that buttermilk was one of Paw Paw's favorites, but he didn't quite agree with that!

After the cornbread we went into the auditorium for team building activities.  This was Cameron's least favorite station of the day, but he did like the six foot spandex band that slingshot the children across the floor.  From there we went to lunch.  We had stew, cornbread, fruit and cookies.  I wasn't sure if Cameron would try the soup, but he did and thought it wasn't too bad.  

The afternoon started with a bench building activity.  The students learned about woodworking and using simple machines.  They not only helped with making a bench, but they also leaned how to make pegs.  The last station of the day was in the woods and except for the mosquitoes it was a lot of fun.  The 5th graders learned about shelter building.  They then split into groups and used nature to build a shelter.  Cameron's group did a fantastic job.  Cameron wished they had more time to finish it, but I thought it was great.

It was nice to spend time with Cameron.  I appreciate all of the new opportunities that his new school has to offer him.  He not only learned a lot today, but also got to know his classmates better as did I.