A Week in the Woods by Andrew Clements

Author:Andrew Clements
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Thirteen

Readiness

After the announcements and the Pledge of Allegiance on Monday morning, Mark was surprised when the principal’s voice came crackling out of the speaker in his homeroom.

“Good morning, fifth-graders. This is Mrs. Gibson. By this time next Monday, you will already be well on your way to Gray’s Notch State Park. Mr. Maxwell tells me that three of you have not yet turned in your signed permission slips for your Week in the Woods. If you are one of those three, please take care of this right away. You must turn in a signed slip or you will not be allowed to get onto the bus. The buses will leave from the front of the school building at seven-thirty next Monday morning. That means you all should be here by seven o’clock at the very latest. Your information packet is very clear about all the details. Please read through the information with your parents again this week. And students, make sure that you don’t bring too much with you. We have a problem with this every year. Each student may bring no more than one medium-sized suitcase, one book bag, and a sleeping bag. There is a very clear packing list, and if you follow it, you’ll have just enough of everything. If you have any questions, ask any of your teachers or, of course, you may ask Mr. Maxwell. Have a great week, everybody.”

The whole rest of the day was just as surprising to Mark. Everything was about the big trip. No school Mark had attended had ever focused on a single idea the way that Hardy Elementary School zeroed in on A Week in the Woods.

In language arts Mrs. Bender taught a lesson about keeping a journal, and then each student made a small booklet to write in during the week away. “We shall do our best to make our observations original, interesting, and accurate.”

In social studies they learned about the Native Americans who had lived in the region, and on a special map Mrs. Farr showed a hilltop at the park that was off-limits to all hikers. Some Abenaki artifacts had been discovered there last year, and over the coming summer there would be a formal archeological survey of the area. Then Mrs. Farr gave each kid a folder with a topographic map of the park. She explained how to read the map, and how to use the position of the sun or even where the moss was growing on a tree to figure out which way was north. She said, “I want everyone to bring these folders with you to the park next week. On Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon, we’ll be doing some trail finding and some orienteering, and I don’t want any of you getting lost.”

In math class Mrs. Leghorn had them do some problems about rate and distance.

“All right, class,” she said. “If you walk at six miles an hour, and you hike for three hours and twenty minutes—my goodness! Why anyone would want to go tramping around out in the cold for that long is beyond me.

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