Norval

I step off the school bus to find myself standing in grass, staring out into the beautiful open field of Norval. As I stand there, trying to take in all of the beautiful landscape, I realize people are trying to pass me, eager to start the day ahead of them. I take a few steps, still dazed in the amazement of the place. It looks so familiar. I'm trying to remember when I was here in the past, but the picture is too fuzzy to recall. I take a few more steps, struggling to pull myself together, when I see friendly faces. I gain more confidence and follow the crowd, ready to start a day of adventure.

On October 19th, The middle school went to an outdoor centre called Norval. We called it "Team Building Day" because it required some teamwork for the activities we did in the morning. As we got off the bus, they gathered each grade together to do some mini games. The first game was to attach clothes pins to the back of your shirt, and try to grab as many clothes pins as you could off of other peoples shirts. The next game was you were to get into partners, and the person who was "it" would spin around in circles, while the other partner would make a great escape, but speed-walking. Then the chase began as the two would speed-walk after each other. It was quite funny, actually. Then we did the same thing, except we had to have one eye closed, and the other eye would be cupped, to make a cone to make it harder to see. It was rather entertaining to see people collide with each other. Then we split into groups to start the real action.

For the first half of the day, we did low ropes with the group you were chosen to work with. In my group, we did four activities:

1. We had to arrange ourselves in alphabetical order while standing on wooden poles

2. We had to walk across wires attached to trees, with only ropes to stabilize us.

3. We had to walk across wires, again, to transfer from one platform, to another, using ropes, and each other.

4. We had to figure out some way to push a tire off of a tall pole

One activity I think we did well was the second one, walking across the wires. We figured out a great strategy where when someone got to a tree, they would pass the rope attached to that tree to the person behind them, helping them to get across to the next tree. Then the person behind would pass the rope to the person in front of them, and the person in front would carry on to the next tree. It was a challenging activity, but we made it through okay.

Another activity I think we didn't do very well at was the last one, getting the tire off the tall pole. Everyone pitched great ideas- we had ideas from a human pyramid to a human staircase. We even had people standing on each others shoulders! It also helped that we had the smallest and tallest people in our grade in the group, but we still couldn't get the tire off. No one was put down for having a bad idea, we just did something crazy and dangerous when someone pitched the idea. It was actually really fun. My favourite idea was the human staircase. Although it didn't work, it was still really fun to be a part of. Another cool idea that almost worked was that we lifted the smallest and lightest person up on the tire up to the top, and then while she was dangling at the top, holding on for dear life, we tried to think of an idea to get the tire up to her so she could lift it off. That was probably my favourite activity, even though we didn't accomplish the task.

Overall, I thought of the day as fun and entertaining. The activities were a great start for the day, and to top it off, we even did a drum circle! It was fun and everyone participated. It sounded amazing! It was great how the leader got everyone's attention, and he barely said anything. Everyone did what he wanted them to do. They stopped when he motioned us to, and started drumming a certain way by just using his hands as a tool. It was a great way to end the day. The trip got initiative, participation, and teamwork out of everyone.

As I take the first step onto the bus, I memorize all the fun memories I gained that day, that I will remember forever. As I take my seat, I'm sad to leave such a happy place, and I'm excited to come back again next year, for another fun-filled day at Norval. I wave good-bye to the friendly faces and hope to see them again soon.