I recently had a break in my weekly schedule and I’ve learned that sometimes a change in routine can lead down a Divinely directed path. In this case I was invited to participate in a special field trip day at Turtle Island Preserve (TIP)attended by seventy-four 7th and 8th grade students and their teachers from Blowing Rock School. I was able to join TIP staff, interns, and volunteers in this event.

I arrived early enough to sit in on the morning briefing and at it’s conclusion we piled into a large “dump truck” to hitch a ride up the long gravel road to the entrance to meet the school buses. It was VERY bumpy but very memorable too. Once the students and teachers exited the buses we broke into smaller groups and hiked down the “ridge trail” to the base.

After a short break I began teaching my first class. Initially we covered survival priorities and then talked about assessing situations and recognizing resources. I showed them my Every Day Carry (EDC) and was able to demonstrate some of it’s uses. I demonstrated how to build a “one match (or one ferro strike)” fire. This led to more firecraft techniques along with signaling, knapping, and “hobo” fishing.

I was very impressed with the attentiveness and polite manners of these kids and it was a pleasure to spend time with them. As the 8th graders will be graduating to a new school, we look forward to the return of the 7th grade class as 8th graders next year.