Up the mountain they go

Friday, October 14, 2011

James Brudenell, the earl of Cardigan, led – somewhat reluctantly, thanks to a modicum of good sense – the charge of the Light Brigade and returned unscathed.

Recently, Lurgio Middle School eighth-graders climbed Mount Cardigan in Cardigan Mountain State Forest and returned not only unscathed but, we think, with a greater appreciation of nature and of their own abilities.

And that, of course, is the point.

Each year, for 39 years now, eighth-graders make the climb. This year it was from Oct. 3-6 and led by Bill Demers, the LMS athletic director. As our story of last week said, the mountain “becomes an outdoor classroom where students can study Thoreau, Robert Frost and the weather and make scientific predictions.”

But it’s so much more than that. As Demers said in our story:

“A lot of kids don’t know each other, and middle school can be a big problem with (the) bullying awkward stage.” Once outside the classroom, some kids become natural leaders.

And that’s not unusual, although it is always gratifying. Take kids outside the environment they are used to, the environment where some of them are, indeed, bullies, and things can change for the better.

And getting into the outdoors, in and of itself, in this day and age isn’t the norm for so many kids. Families are so busy trying to make ends meet that they often don’t have time for long hikes or camping, so the Cardigan trip might be the only time some of these students get to do this.

As one former Lurgio student said in our story, “Being outside was the best part of it,” although he admitted “it was hard to sleep with a tent on a slanted hill.”

Yes, but wasn’t that part of the learning experience? If every tent is on perfectly flat ground, what have we to transcend?

Bedford is showing itself to be a very innovative educational community, something residents should applaud. Innovation makes for good schools and good schools make for attractive communities and that makes for better property values.

So climb that mountain, kids. If you want to think about James Brudenell, the fifth earl of Cardigan as you climb, that’s fine, too. Someday you, too, might have a style of sweater named for you.