The Island School: Where the Obstacle is the Way ABOUT A 3 MINUTE READ –  Even before arriving at their tropical destination, Leelanau’s Winter Term exploratory group found themselves practicing the motto of the host school.  The obstacle is the way. You see, our Leelanau world travelers missed their connecting flight from Nassau to Eleuthera at the very outset of the trip. Instead of panicking, they treated the airport staff with grace and made the best of it.  They arrived the next morning at The Island School, where they would be asked to meet daily deliberate challenges –learning the only way to overcome them was to go through them. Junior Sara House put it beautifully, “You don’t have to have everything figured out beforehand to take that first step in the right direction.  Throughout the whole trip, I kept telling myself that.” Sophomore Mark Porter also realized this during xer first-time scuba diving. Mark said, “Before getting into the water, I was holding my mask to my face. I was wearing all of this heavy equipment, sitting on...

For the Love of Art ABOUT A 2 MINUTE READ –  When you walk into the art building, you’re greeted by an unruly ponytail palm in the doorway. And funky cacti fill the windowsills.  But the art building is anything but prickly.  After you walk in, there’s a set of pottery sitting on a table, inviting you to give them a look, perhaps a touch. You’ll hear students singing and stringing the guitar, all because they love the way it makes them feel. Once you step into the different art rooms, you’ll notice unfinished works of art by students. Maybe it’s a lantern in the metals room, or a ceramic bowl in the pottery space.  The art in this space is living, breathing life into all who walk in it. You see, after serving my first semester here in the Learning Center (or LC as the students call it), I’ve come to call the art building home during the winter term. And home, it quickly became.  As a learning specialist, working with students in the art building has reawakened my creative spirit. Along with the art teacher, Elara Coleman, I get to work...

Wintering Well and Taking Risks… Together ABOUT A 2 MINUTE READ –  It’s no secret that the winter months in Northern Michigan can be grey and cold. Some Michiganders seek the hygge practiced in Scandinavian countries, wanting to stay inside, grab a cup of coffee, and snuggle up with a good book, distracting themselves until things start to bud again. While cozying up can bring peace and fulfillment, if we’re being honest, sometimes the lack of sunlight can get to a person, bringing weariness rather than coziness. But at The Leelanau School, we’re focused on wintering well.  It’s risky, of course, to kick off the warm blanket and try something new. But when we step out into the winter world, we find there’s a lot of magic blooming during this time, too! At The Leelanau School, winter term can be when our lights shine brightest. So bright, in fact, we forget that the sky may be grey and the temperature brisk. During our winter term, the campus is abuzz with creativity. And creativity is vital to, well, vitality – especially during a time...

The Leelanau School: Where the ADHD Student Thrives ABOUT A 3 MINUTE READ –  On an average day here at The Leelanau School, you’ll find Mr. Blondia and his students dressed in waders stepping into the Crystal River to fish or study the river’s slimy inhabitants. You’ll see Mr. Hood and his students sliding on beekeeper suits to collect some honey or Mrs. Hood mountain biking through the trails. In the winter, students learn about survival in the great outdoors and whirl down ski hills on the daily. This is experiential learning.  And this kind of outdoor learning is what many students with ADHD need to thrive. Nature experts like Richard Louv and psychologists like Dr. Carl Sherman agree that green time helps those with ADHD. In Louv’s monumental book, The Last Child in the Woods, he describes our children and teens today suffering from what he has coined, Nature Deficit Disorder. He claims that without the outside world, kids suffer. But with adequate time in nature, their anxieties and even ADHD symptoms can decrease. Because without...

The Leelanau School: Where Wonder is Revived ABOUT A  2  MINUTE READ –  Humans, especially children, are natural observers. Over time, however, our curiosity gets squashed. We don’t stop to look at the skeleton of an old leaf, listen to the gentle pulsing of a river, or touch the smoothness of a fallen acorn. So, our joy diminishes.  But here, at the Leelanau School, wonder is revived.  As a new faculty on campus, I had a small moment in time which demonstrates this… On move-in day, a freshman asked me, “Hey, wanna go checkout the river?”  “Sure!” I said, as he ran ahead.  We stood on the bridge together, sun beaming down through the trees. From another state, his excitement to observe Northern Michigan was wiggling out of him. Right away we spotted a toad on the muddy bank. The freshman bolted down, trying to catch it.  The toad leapt into the water.  We both laughed and the freshman knelt down, looking into the river. Almost meditating. Next, another toad jumped into the water. And another. And another! With each splash, we gasped, then...