Odyssey
An Odyssey.
5 days, 3 camps, 1 school.
People often ask what is the purpose?
I’ve worked for a long time to put it into words, but it’s hard to distill something as complex and rich as an Odyssey into a tagline.
It is about community. And about individual growth. And about learning to work tighter. And about learning to work alone.
It’s about creating a space safe enough to be vulnerable with each other.
It’s about singing together, laughing together, and sometimes crying together.
It’s about burnt pasta and rice and beans and hot dogs. It’s about hot coffee and fresh apple cider.
It’s about eating as a community, camping as a community, traveling into the world as a community.
I see the magic of the odyssey in the little moments most deeply.
When a student pauses and looks up at the sunrise during breakfast crew, and says just to themself: oh, it’s beautiful.
Watching a group of students braiding each other’s hair, caring for each other and themselves through talking, listening, just being together.
When the students approach the guides and ask to lead the evening meetings, and then do the work of preparing, leading, and helping create their own community.
When a student brings a new song to the meeting and teaches it to their peers.
When a cook crew gets a standing ovation for their meal.
Adolescence is a time of change and growth that is wonderful, beautiful, awkward, and deep! The Odyssey creates a space where you can just be you. Where you are surrounded by a community of people all outside their comfort zone and it is ok to just be who you are. And where you know that we can’t do this without each of you.
Thank you for supporting this work. It’s some of the hardest and most rewarding work we do here at Great River.
Thank you each of you for showing up in whatever way you can and supporting this work. We truly can not do it without each of you.
SAVE THE DATE - November 15th - Odyssey Night
9th Grade Farm Trip
Joy and learning from and with the land at Philadelphia Community Farm (PCF) was a huge success for the 9ther students and guides. PCF is a rural based intentional community farm located on occupied land of Anishinaabe, Dakota, and Ho-chunk Nations, along the St. Croix River Valley. We centered ourselves on the first day with a long walk around the property, learning about the oak savannah, Saint Croix Conservancy, and the Standing Cedars hiking paths. Day two was focused on learning about the minerals in the soils that come into the vegetables. One group harvested over 300 pounds of potatoes! Day three focused on the plants and the biosystems tended by the farmers and the land and students prepared seed garlic for fall planting. The final full day focused on the animals and we moved cattle from one area of grass to another. We had a beautiful dark walk listening to the night life after a rousing coffeehouse of student songs.
10 grade Lake Itasca Trip
Wonderful times were had by the 10th graders! It was a beautiful trip to Lake Itasca State Park where we literally watched the colors on the leaves change. Every day was filled with adventure, smiles, and even a bit of learning. Students learned about the history of the park, the search for the headwaters of the Mississippi, and honed their canoeing skills. Highlights of the weekend, as told by students at our final community meeting, were climbing the Aiton Heights Fire Tower, canoeing to Henry Schoolcraft’s original campsite, the night hike, frisbee, and fishing on Lake Ozawindib. The trip concluded with a trip to Bemidji to visit Bemidji State University, and have lunch on Lake Bemidji, under the watchful eye of Paul Bunyan and Babe the blue ox.
11th Grade College Exploration
We could not have ordered up a better week of weather! Our first night camping (very near Lake Superior in Ashland, WI) the Northern Lights danced through the sky beginning at 10 pm. We gave students the opportunity to get out of their tents to see them. A first time experience for just about every student. After visiting UW Superior and Northland College, we had a long drive down to Hudson for our 2nd night at Willow River State Park. At community meetings in the evenings, students came together and staff on the trip shared their journey that brought them to Great River School. A ritual we do to have students hear from many voices how success and journeys to get there can be very different. Students toured UW Stout and worked together to problem solve at the ropes course. Our last night was at Sakatah State park, where Thursday we headed to Northfield to visit either St. Olaf or Carleton. It was great to see your 11th grade students thinking about options they are interested in pursuing after high school. Students had many different reasons that certain schools were of more interest to them. But if you asked any student on the trip what was the best part, they all would say the lunches/food on campuses. But I challenge that they had a lot of other great memories and experiences besides the cafeteria meals!
12th grade Canoe Key Experience
The seniors took to the Namekagon River to canoe and enjoy the beautiful fall colors. Everyone had a chance to get their feet wet learning canoeing skills right away on day one. Day two was the true guts of the trip with an over 20 mile paddle! The weather was calm, so it made for easy paddling but the sheer length of the day made for exhausted canoers. Day three was a day of rest. Students reflected on their lives, wrote letters to their future selves, then participated in the annual senior olympics. The final day was a short paddle down the river to our ending spot at Jack’s canoe rentals. Students enjoyed some ice cream and said their final goodbyes to the river there, before hopping the bus back to school.
The Phoenix
The Phoenix proved to be an eventful and fun week for students ranging from grades 8-12. We began the week by taking a trip to Taylors Falls where students embarked on a scenic boat tour down the St. Croix River. Tuesday included a day of pickling veggies with our kitchen staff along with a variety of activities focused on care of the environment. Students immersed themselves in an educational experience at Hocokata Ti where they learned about the Mdewakanton Dakota people and their history. The week concluded with a trip to Fort Snelling, Minnehaha Falls, and Mill City Museum. The week full of activities provided an opportunity for students and staff to engage in community building, form new relationships, and grow through educational experiences.