Week Six: Deepening Skills

During Week 6, gappers accumulated information that will be useful not just at Glen Brook, but for the rest of our lives. 

Gappers learned skills that ranged from building and first aid during apprenticeships, to the basics of taxes, and completing their first absentee ballots. 

No matter what apprenticeship gappers were in, all of us were busy learning throughout the past week. On the farm, gappers were taught about planting along with helping to learn how to build and even repair the fences that Farmer Sam uses in his animal pastures. While building the fence took up most of the apprenticeship blocks during the week, gappers also had the chance to learn about the machinery and tractors that are used on the farm. Those in Outdoor Leadership learned about first aid treatments in the backcountry by practicing on a hike and even in the water, in a spot called Tarzan’s Hole. Additionally, gappers in leadership worked on building fires and how to make ash cakes, which we are hoping to make later this week on our backpacking trip. 

This week gappers gained necessary knowledge to help us become more active American citizens. On Thursday, Charlie, one of the farm hands, came in to talk to us about how to file taxes properly. Charlie had spent time volunteering with VITA, a tax assistance program, so he walked us through the most common tax forms as well as explaining the reasoning behind each of the main sections on each of the forms. Although the lesson was short, the information was easy to digest and the presentation helped many of us to understand the process better. Another one of the ways gappers became more involved citizens was through voting. A few of the gappers received their absentee ballots this week and so time was spent looking at candidates and other propositions that were to be voted on. Despite this process being time consuming for most, it helped to give those who were voting a better idea of the issues at stake, especially at the local or state level. 

Besides just learning at Glen Brook, gappers continued to improve their wilderness skills when we went on our afternoon canoe trip. On Friday we drove out to local Lake Nubanusit to canoe for the day. Though the actual canoeing only took a few hours, we practiced portaging, loading canoes, and using new stoves while we were out on our day trip. The trip was also a lot of fun as we were able to sit back and enjoy how beautiful it was outside without having to worry about it raining.

At Hill House, gappers continued to learn by making new foods and teaching each other games. This week gappers made moussaka, a greek eggplant dish, and a big Middle Eastern inspired dinner, complete with salad, pita, and lamb kofta. Card and dice games such as Anomia, Palace, and Tenzi continued to be played, along with the new addition of Rummikub. 

TLDR:

Skills of the Week:

Apprenticeship: Fencing and First Aid

Citizenry: Filing Taxes and Voting

Wilderness: Using New Stoves

Games: Rummikub

Hear From a Gapper:

Here’s Tadashi, our editor of the week, talking about his experience learning wilderness first aid.