More than 180 Village School sixth-graders are back from the traditional four-day excursion to Camp Bournedale in Plymouth— the first time since 2019 that students have been able to go. The program is called VillageXperience.
“Students missed out on so many social opportunities over the past few years. We hope that this Xperience will be one that they will remember for a lifetime,” said Village teacher Jonathan Heller, who helped lead the trip.
Village students have been going to Bournedale for at least three decades.
“There are Village staff and chaperones that attended Bournedale when they were students in Marblehead Public Schools,” Heller told the Marblehead Current.
While at the camp, students participated in six core classes:
- Lobster Tales, where kids explored saltwater ecosystems, structures of marine animals and math as the learned to calculate the age of a lobster based on its size and weight
- Marine Lab, where students explored the anatomy of a dogfish and functions of animal systems
- Rocketry, where sixth-graders used the engineering and design process to build a paper rocket powered by compressed air and a rocket powered by a combustible engine
- Geo-caching, where students used a compass to locate hidden treasures throughout the camp and found true north by calculating the difference between magnetic north and true north
- Adventure, where classmates worked cooperatively to accomplish team challenges like “Don’t Touch the Lava.”
- But it wasn’t all work. Heller listed a few highlights from the week, including a luau, color wars, karaoke, s’mores at the fire pit and the always popular Sixth-Grade Idol.
- Some students opted to stay at the Village School for the week, where they engaged in activities.
“Both programs provide our sixth-graders with a similar shared Xperience,” Heller explained. “The VillageXperience is the culmination and celebration of three years at Village School. As the sixth-graders get ready to move on to the middle school and begin the second half of their time in the Marblehead Public Schools, we are confident that they will continue to make Marblehead proud.”
Leigh Blander is an experienced TV, radio and print journalist who has written hundreds of stories for local newspapers, including the Marblehead Reporter. She also works as a PR specialist.