July 22 - Penryn Castle

Today was our FULL ON day. It was awesome.

We arrived at the gym of the university and were met by a team of highly energetic people from New Zealand. As we came in, the song - Celebration - was blaring. The crew got the kids moving and doing a little dancing. (Remember, this is about 9 a.m.) After a few words, they talked to the kids about fears - about conquering those fears - about trust - making choices, etc.

We hopped in the coach and drove to Penryn Castle, which actually is not a true castle, but a vacation home that was built by Lord Penryn. It looks like a castle to us, but because it has large 1st floor windows...and easy access, it's technically not a castle.

Our group was again broken into groups - 3 groups - and we had more activites to build trust and team building... and problem solving. I won't go into details since the computer only has 10 more minutes...but they were great exercises that I want to use in my classroom (remind me to tell you Pamela and Laner!)

Next: rappeling off the castle. MOST of us did it...but a few - I think there were 5 - who made it all the way to the top, even as far as standing on the edge, and then just couldn't go over the edge. Those of us who did, were exhilarated by the experience. We took so many pictures...and there was so much encouragement being yelled out. All of this was done on the absolutely beautiful grounds of the castle. We were in harness...and it was all safe...BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.


We had quite a bit of free time back at the university. It was also warm and beautiful weather, so lots of groups took off walking into town.

An exciting day!