AMS New School Year

 

              Arthur Morgan School launched into its 08/09 school year on August 31st with the arrival of many new boarding students. Coming from as nearby as Asheville and as far away as Alaska, students arrived full of energy, excitement and some apprehension about what the coming year would hold for them. Following a few days of orientation, students and staff separated into three different groups and set out for the annual three- day hikes to explore some of the local mountainous areas. Fortunately there was no rain, the weather was perfect and sleeping under the stars was a joy.

              Along with many new students, AMS has a new staff member joining us this year. Stuart Jeckel is a teacher and house parent with a B.A. in Economics and Spanish from UNC Chapel Hill. He loves to work with 7th – 9th grade students because he feels that, “All ages learn best when guided through a voluntary process of discovery. It’s easy to have fun with middle school students while facilitating that learning process.” Also interning at AMS this year are Elliot Smith, an AMS alumni from 2004 who recently graduated from Colorado Rocky Mountain School, and Molly Martin who attended Skidmore College majoring in Art and Women’s Studies.

              Staff and students alike are excited about the classes being offered this term. They include not only the required mathematics and language art’s credits, but some exciting core classes, electives and internships. One of the core classes, offered by Stuart Jeckel, is Animal Behavior. Stuart received a grant through the National Science Foundation that will fund the purchase of curriculum to study our honey bees, build an ant farm to observe their social behavior, as well as studying many behaviors of other domestic and farm animals. Other choices students have for core classes and internships range from Pots with Purpose, which is a pottery class being taught by Hannah Levin; a drama class entitled Party, Play and Puppets by Jason Sterling; a Preschool Internship developed by Mari Ohta-Weir and Lucy Lodge; and a Kitchen internship with Sarah Amason, just to name a few.

              Currently, students and staff have separated into four groups and are away on six- day hikes. Having departed Saturday morning under a wet and dreary sky, two of these groups were headed for the Smokies, one into Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest and the final group was climbing over the mountain via trail into Asheville. The six-day hike is one of three extended wilderness trips that AMS students take during the year. With the first being the three-day hike mentioned earlier and the final trip being eight-days long.

              Arthur Morgan School is an innovative boarding a day school located on Hannah Branch Road, just off Highway 80 South. If you would like more information about AMS please visit us on the web at arthurmorganschool.org or give us a call at 828-675-4262.