Academy Life Day: Reconnecting, Getting Acquainted

September 17, 2007

Girls from Merrill Hall attempt to build the highest tower of plastic cups as part of a scavenger hunt

Academy Life Day is a chance for boarding students to spend time with their dorm mates, dorm faculty and affiliates, and for day students to connect with one another and their advisers. No classes. No homework. Today’s Academy Life Day was perfect – sunny and crisp – a classic New England early autumn opportunity for doing just about anything. 

This morning buses headed off for all directions: south to Boston and Massachusetts beaches, north to White Lake State Park and Alton Bay for hiking, east to beaches in New Hampshire and west to Pawtuckaway State Park.

One group of 16 day students helped a local horse stable that specializes in therapeutic riding activities for children with special needs. "We cleaned up the grounds and painted in preparation for a Medieval Fair they're holding this weekend," explains Matt, a lower, who clearly enjoyed the experience. Other groups also focused on community service. Odiorne Point State Park, a New Hampshire seacoast beach and science center, received a hand with beach cleanup from a group of day students. The boys of Webster Hall South traveled to nearby Camp Lincoln, a YMCA camp, to clear grounds and assist with maintenance.

For others, the focus was crafts, fun and food. Dunbar Hall's girls went to a local paint-your-own pottery shop. The 43 girls of Wheelwright Hall stayed on campus, where scavenger hunts and art projects were the morning's focus.

Williams House, with 12 boys, followed a dorm tradition, traveling north for an overnight to enjoy a full day of hikes and the outdoors.

The girls of Merrill Hall gathered fallen apples at a local orchard, then returned to campus for a scavenger hunt. "It was a lot of fun," says Becky, a lower, who seemed totally relaxed as she strolled campus after the scavenger hunt. Sam, also a lower, added, "The break from classes is what I like best."

No matter what the activity, this day free of classes gives students a chance to get to know and perhaps bond with new friends, and gives everyone a chance to reconnect. Kate, a lower who spent the morning touring Newburyport, MA, a seacoast town half an hour from Exeter, put it this way: "It's great to get to know the other kids better."

Wheelwright Hall girls relaxing on Academy Life Day