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Hearthstone Highlights
Outdoor Classroom
Every school year begins with an All-School Hike and ends with a Canoe Trip on the Shenandoah River. During the last week of school, the older students participate in a 3 day/2 night backpacking trip in Shenandoah National Park. On the third day, the backpacking students join the rest of the school for the end-of-year Canoe Trip.
Massanutten Ski Program Ski lessons are an annual winter sports activity at Hearthstone School.
Hearthstone middle-schoolers completed their 6 week ski/snowboard program at Massanutten. They all improved their skills. Thank you to teachers Mr. Trevor and Mr. Aron for their encouragement, support, and leadership. |
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Service TripsHearthstone has a long history of incorporating service trips into the curriculum. On our most recent service trip (March 2019), Hearthstone middle school students flew to Puerto Rico to help renovate an abandoned school which currently houses ten families who lost their homes in the storms. Hearthstone parents and grandparents restored the building’s solar power system. The students learned directly about the impact of severe weather while helping victims with repairs.
Those middle school students who did not go on the trip researched acts of kindness and community spirit related to flooding in Madison County. Both of these field trips are part of Hearthstone’s Main Lesson Block on Maps, Tides and Weather. |
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Embryology ProgramHearthstone participated in the 4-H Embryology program. We received an incubator, heat lamp, bedding, learning aids and other supplies. Jenny Kapsa visited out school on three occasions to drop off supplies and 16 fertilized eggs. She gave students a talk about the biology and life cycle of chicks, how to setup the incubator and to how to care for the chicks once they hatch.
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Kid Pan AlleyEvery year Paul Reisler with Kid Pan Alley leads our students in a songwriting workshop. As stated on their website, "Kid Pan Alley’s mission is to inspire and empower children to work together to become creators of their own music and to rekindle creativity as a core value in education through the group songwriting process."
Below are audio files of just a couple of the songs our students have written with Paul over the years: ~ Funny Guy ~ From the Top of a Coconut Tree ~ Underground |
Annual Easter Egg Hunt
Every Spring, Nursery/Kindergarten students plant, water and grow wheatgrass in baskets. The day before our egg hunt, they dye eggs with all natural dyes to create different colors: cochineal dye (from the sack of insects) for pink, onion skins for brown, turmeric spice and marigold flowers for yellow, pansy flowers for lavender, and red cabbage for grey. Students use sticks and branches to create a large nest.
Middle School students hide the dyed eggs around the playground for the younger students to find. After hunting eggs and using their baskets to carry the load, students put the eggs in the nest. A game is played where each student is blindfold and picked out four eggs to take home. The "butterfly hatching" and other games are played.
Middle School students hide the dyed eggs around the playground for the younger students to find. After hunting eggs and using their baskets to carry the load, students put the eggs in the nest. A game is played where each student is blindfold and picked out four eggs to take home. The "butterfly hatching" and other games are played.