Wednesday, August 24, 2011

A Summer of Footsteps

This summer I had the privilege to work with some pretty amazing middle school students at my former high school in Vail. SummerQuest is a program that I have always wanted to be apart of since growing up in Vail, but have never had the chance to do so because of other work/training commitments during the month of July. SummerQuest is a long-time running program in its 16th year of operation. It is a program that outreach program hosted by Vail Mountain School for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students throughout Eagle County who have been identified as being talented but in need of remediation.

Our days consisted of fun and learning. School began at 8. Homebase until 8:30. Mathematics at 9. Outdoor activity at 9:45. Language Arts at 10:15. Electives (i.e. soccer, art, cooking, astrology) at 11. Everybody returning to their houses by noon. This schedule provided a way for students to learn and know that it was going to be a good time. Every kid that has ever talked about SummerQuest only has one thing to say about it, "Fun!" So it has to be a great mix of teaching methods, the people that teach them, and the reputation of the program that helps SummerQuest be so successful.

This July I was in charge of the 8th grade homebase, 8th grade math, and 7th grade language arts. I was joined by two other teachers, which made the student-teacher ratio in the class 3:1. A pretty good way to keep all of your students involved. We had a great time laughing, studying, and enjoying our summer together.

My 8th graders!

I was also fortunate enough to talk with a group of upcoming 9th graders about my life as a professional athlete and was able to connect to them because it wasn't out of reach and because it was a smaller sport. I essentially talked them about drive, passion, and having fun. I said if they could incorporate those into anything they were interested in, they could be successful.

A "Thank You" from the 9th graders I had the chance to speak with

Besides my summer placement my summer has been filled with other work, training, and travelling. I have been able to get some solid training in these cool, Colorado mountains. There is an awesome summer running series here in Vail that I do every summer and has been successful. I recently got engaged to my best friend, Sarah Wright, who was also an NCAA Nordic Skier for the University of New Hampshire. That was very exciting (and nerve-racking). I recently returned from a 10 day "rest-sesh," I call it, visiting Sarah's family and part of my family in the Midwest and continued onto Canada. My best friend from college has an old cabin on a lake up there that has no electricity or access to the cabin by road. Always have a great time there.

The write up in the paper about Sarah and I!

My coach, Dan Weiland, and I about 200m into the 10k@10,000ft

Sarah and I canoeing the flooded St. Croix River on the Minnesota/Wisconsin border.

Now onto solidifying my next In-The-Arena project. I can't wait. SummerQuest helped foster my love for working with kids, so I feel as if I'm on a good track right now.

Best! S