If your excitement level is anywhere near where ours was at this time last year – you’ve likely been refreshing this page every 30 seconds in anticipation of the Class of 2011’s first blog entry. Where are all of these graduate students? Did they get lost in the woods? Eaten by a barred owl? Did they give up already?! Calm down, champ. We’ve been really busy.
Since our official arrival on August 24th we have been fully immersed in everything IslandWood. We are 28 students from all around the country, with a variety of
backgrounds, interests, and personalities. We are all here to participate in IslandWood’s Education, Environment, and Community (EEC) Program. Our orientation month has been jam packed with a variety of activities aiding us in developing a sense of place here on campus. 
We’ve gotten to know the IslandWood community through team building activities, staff picnics, cultural history classes, and the time proven method of spending A LOT of time on campus. We have gotten to know IslandWood’s environment through solo hikes, geocaching, natural history classes, and (read this as though you are an old timey prospector) good ol’ fashioned exploration.
As the weeks went on, we became certified in Wilderness First Aid, observed some (amazing) IslandWood Alumni in the field, and did everything we could to make sure that we were prepared for our first week of team teaching during the School Overnight Program (SOP).
Half of us have already completed our first week of solo teaching
(which we will tell you more about later) and the other half are about to embark. We are beyond excited to be in this remarkable place and know that this will be an important year of growth for us all.
We hope to update this blog at least once a week and are planning on helping you get to know the Class of 2011 by profiling individual Grads throughout the year. So grab your canteens and slip into those rain pants* because we are in for an adventure.
Love forever and for always, Bonnie and Roxann
*This is also most effective in an old timey prospector’s voice.
