The 6th Form Expedition

Today

By lewisrand on October 5, 2022 • ( 2 Comments )

By Davis Hathaway ’26

At 5:00 in the morning on a Saturday, the alarm clocks sounded. The bus was set to leave at 6:00, so it was a brutal wake-up for many. The energy of the entire 6^th form was low as everyone slowly and tiredly piled into the buses at 5:45. The trip had begun.

The 6th formers were on our way to a four day exhibition in the small town of Jonesville, Virginia, where we would be assisting the Appalachia Service Project by fixing the homes of those in need. The first thing the seniors had to do when we arrived was hand in our phones. A key part of this expedition was to make sure the seniors had some bonding time (since so much of our time is spent with our faces in our phones). Each of the ten groups, selected randomly, then went to their separate cabins and set themselves up for the upcoming four days.

               On the first work day (the day after arrival), each group began on its project. All of the ten groups worked at different houses and had different work to do. For example, ‘Meow,’ the code name of group three, replaced a carpet in a bedroom, painted the walls, and installed new floor coverings and trim in the bathroom. ‘Ruff Ruff’, group six, installed two new windows and removed and replaced old floor coverings. My group, ‘Rawr XD,’ was set to remove and replace a porch for this nice woman, Paula and her grandson, Colt. We started with taking down the old porch piece by piece and then setting the posts and frame for the new porch by digging large holes to place the beams in. For the last two days of work, after getting the old porch taken down and the beams in for the new one, we began work on the decking and handrails. This entire process required precise measurements (big props to math teacher and project architect Dr. McRae!) and lots of work with many different tools, including shovels, pickaxes, power drills, saw cutters, etc. But the thing more important than all of those measurements and tools was teamwork. Everyone in my group worked very hard and added something unique to the project. It was a very moving moment when we finished our project and were able to see how much work we got done together. I felt very accomplished and proud that we were able to help out somebody in need.

The 6th form expedition was truly eye-opening to me. It was so great to see everyone in my grade bonding together without their phones and, instead, just enjoying each other’s company. I felt like I got to know some of my classmates better in four days than I did in four years here, which was really cool and insightful. Additionally, nothing feels better than doing something for someone who really needs it. The entire 6^th form class left on the buses last Tuesday with a true sense of accomplishment and gratitude for being able to help out people that really needed it.

Categories: Today