FALLS VILLAGE — It’s July, but the halls of Housatonic Valley Regional High School were filled with happy young voices the past two weeks as the middle school Mountaineer Camp was underway.
Sixty rising 6th- 7th- and 8th-graders from all Region One schools converged at the high school and then to points beyond to participate in a wide variety of activities.
Under the supervision of Anne MacNeil, the region’s athletic director, and Jill Pace, library specialist at Sharon Center School, the youngsters were not only introduced to experiences they may never have had before, but also to students from the region who they may well meet in later years.
Said MacNeil, “One of the goals of the summer Mountaineer experience is to make new friends. Through this goal, we continue to bring together students in Region One to become friends — to become one region. Our students engage in different activities which allow them to get to know each other and themselves. Whether it is partnering with a new friend in a canoe or working together as a group on a low ropes element, we hope all of our students achieve this goal.”
“We need more opportunities for kids from different schools to get to know each other,” said Pace. “This program is great, especially for those from the smaller towns.” It has grown to a point where there were 20 on a waiting
On one day last week, Sue Saccardi was in charge of a farm-to-table class where she was making focaccia and bagels with the students. She explained the difference of the dough, with the focaccia much lighter than that of the bagels. In another room Sheri Lloyd was directing the children in making solar cars that they then raced. “You engineer it and design it to win,” she said. Nikko Sedgwick was showing a boy how to paint a forest in the art room, Beth Dinneen was demonstrating the use of a 3D printer and at the art garage Kitty Kiefer and Abigail Fifer were watching over young artists as they worked on projects.
Earlier that day, the campers were out and about the region participating in paddleboarding, rock climbing, stream walking, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, playing board games, playing backyard games or swimming at the Town Grove in Lakeville.
The camp is free, made possible through at $60,000 grant from Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, explained Jeanine Rose, Region One assistant superintendent. There was also $22,000 of federal funds available. “This is such a great program,” she said. “It’s wonderful for social interaction and
