JANUARY IN REVIEW

The month of January started out with a bang in the dorm. We welcomed two new students, both of whom have been a great addition to our dorm family. Then, on the first weekend back from the holiday break, the dorm students embarked on our second weekend trip of the year.

The first night of the trip, we traveled north to an indoor water park where the students screamed with joy as they shot down the slides on inner tubes and relaxed in the hot tub. All the residential faculty members were impressed by how much some of our more timid students faced their fear of the unknown and tried new rides.

The next morning, we got up early and headed off to Mohawk Mountain to ski and snowboard for the day. We couldn’t have had better weather for a ski trip. Some students took lessons and honed their new skills on the bunny slopes, while our more advanced skiers and boarders showed off their tricks for our rapidly firing cameras. Most were in the lodge only to refuel and check in, and then off they went, rosy cheeked and cheerful.

Back in Hardwick House we have started an ongoing character-building project. Students meet weekly in dinner groups to discuss how to build their “character muscles.” They are asked to chart their daily development, which is broken down into categories, such as: caring, citizenship, cooperation, fairness, forgiveness, honesty, relationships, respect, responsibility, and safety. Students then come to the group and discuss how they have improved or what they are struggling with. The interesting piece of this exercise is the daily reflections of the charting.

We have found that although work needs to be done, the dorm students have the profound knowledge of where they struggle.

The Dorm Team