At Midnight last night the boys awoke to build a fire for our traditional pre-Thanksgiving turkey pit. This fire kept them warm until the early hours of the morning. They then made a pit out of the coals of the fire with Operations Director Phil Fairbrother where they stuffed the turkeys underground. This has been a yearly tradition for CCBS the night before Thanksgiving.

Watching the turkeys cook late into the night...

These are the students who braved the late night to cook our tasty turkey’s: (from left to right) Michael, Barron, Jimmy, Cole, Sam, and Dain.

Teacher Nick Linscott, together with the boys who stayed up all night, pulled out the turkeys the next morning after our traditional late night cookout. They then wheelbarrowed their way up to the kitchen where several students whipped on the aprons and started prepping the turkeys.

Its that time of year again! Every year at Thanksgiving Cherokee Creek Boys School pit-roasts our turkeys for our Thanksgiving feast. It is an honor to be selected for Team Turkey. This year’s crew (pictured above) includes (from left): Sam, Cole, Teacher Nick Linscott, Jimmy, Operations Director Phil Fairbrother, Dain, Michael, and Barron. The team’s responsibilities include staying up until the wee hours tending the roasting coals.

William, Sandy, and Barbara look on as Phil prepares the Turkeys

But first, the turkeys are seasoned and wrapped in foil (several times).

Phil, Cole, Dain, and Barron scope out the pit

Then the boys clear the area of leaves and debris before digging a HUGE pit.

Next, the boys and staff will create a bonfire in the pit, which will be nursed through the night until there is a well established bed of coals. Then the turkeys will be placed on the coals and burried.

Stay tuned for more updates tomorrow…

Jimmy warms up for the net before the season's first game. His efforts paid off last night in overtime.

The Bears accomplished a 6-5 victory in overtime last night to have their first win of the season and the first win ever in a tournament game. Congratulations to all of the boys and to the coaches for their outstanding efforts! Note the student summary and quotes below describing the experience. They are over the moon – and truly recognize the value of teamwork!

Last night’s game summary provided by Student Contibuter Kevin:
At 8:00 the soccer tournament started. It was wet from a passing shower. Early in the match Cole scored from a corner kick. 1-0. Before half the other team scored. 1-1. Rick scored a goal bringing it up 2-1. Then the other team brought another goal, 2-2, then it was overtime. In the first 5 minutes it was 3-2 to us. After the full overtime it was 3-3. Time for penalty kicks (PK’s). Our goalie, Jimmy, blocked 4 before getting us 1. The first PK score: 4-4. In a second round of PK’s Sam D. and James scored while the opposing team only got one. This was it. The last shot. We block it, we win…They score, PK round 3. We were all shaking off nerves.

They kick. Jimmy blocks it. We won! We all run on the field and celebrate. We dump the cooler of Gatorade on coaches new vest and polo. The night was one of the best ever! Everyone gave 110% and it payed off!

Tournament Round 2 is Tuesday!

Student Statements:
“We did really great, we did really well. Even though the other team only had 9 people, they played well, too. It was a good game.” -Hudson

“We were persistent and we had lots of spirit!” -Cory

“It was exceptional. We all hustled. We had an amazing game.” – Kevin

“I thought we were going to loseabout 10 times. It was stressful when we had to do the PK’s.” – James (James scored the fianl penalty kick to make the score 6-5)

“I was very surprised we won. We all played superb. I want to congratulate everybody on their efforts.” – Jimmy

“It was an amazing game. It was an epic game. We had the best teamwork we’ve ever had.” – Spencer

“Good teamwork pays off!” – Cole

“It was a very good game and we had great teamwork and effort.” – Tommy Br.

“I think it was a fantastic game and we had great sportsmanship.” – Alexander

“It was a fantastic game with 10 PK’s in total and we had great teamwork.” – Dain

“It was an awesome game. It was sweet. I believe if Jimmy was not in the goal, we wouldn’t have done so well. He is straight up athletic. Coach gave the player of the game to everyone, but it really belonged to Jimmy because he saved us with those PK’s. I’m looking forward to the next game and using the same ideas and teamwork. The communication on the team is getting better. When everyone was passing we were using names. It’s really important.” – Rick

“I am really excited that we are going to another tournament game. My dad was really excited on our phone call this morning. Everybody did a great job, but especially Jimmy on the last block of the game.” – Mike T.

“I feel this is something out of a storybook because we played the same team earlier and lost. And now we’ve come back and beat the team in double overtime shooting PK’s.” – Sam K.

“I was ecstatic! We all played a good game.” – Michael H.

Sam and Sam examine a Monarch butterfly

Yesterday, CCBS students celebrated “Migration Celebration” with Biologist Jason Love and Ornithologist Marc Hopey as part of the Coweeta Long Term Ecological Research program. Our students participated in Monarch butterfly tagging and bird banding to help document and track migration paths of these animals.

They then had time for learning fun by playing animal charades, I-Spy and Migration Headache all of which reinforced the many variables that can negatively affect a successful trip for the migrators.

All in all it was another great day of hands-on learning!

With last night’s first soccer game of the season, the Bears are off to a great start! With several team members on Trek, the players who took the field last night had to play the entire 60 minutes with only half-time for a break! They played with incredible heart while staff cheered from the stands and coaches Josh Ward and Chris Leamons lead the team from the sidelines. Speaking of team leaders…Cole did an excellent job serving as the team’s captain for this game. The team did take a 6-0 loss for the evening despite the fearless and incredible efforts of Jimmy in the net and Loucas on defense. Sam also turned in an awesome performance playing offense, giving us our best opportunities to go for the goal.

This was a really strong start for the season! We are looking forward to the next game on Monday. Check out the slideshow below. Go BEARS!

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As we get our fall calendars organized, we have a lot to look forward to! Over the week of October 30th to November 4th we have our next Family Trek, our First Boundaries Boot-Camp and the November Family Seminar – complete with an early Thanksgiving celebration. Whew! Check out the additional info. below:

Fall 2011 Family Trek Details & Boundaries Boot-Camp Details

But wait…there’s more! The 2011 Cherokee Creek Bears soccer schedule is here. See a game you can make? Please contact Alyse or your son’s primary for more details on each game.

Thursday, September 8th at 7:30 PM
Monday, September 12th at 7:30 PM
Tuesday, September 13th at 7:00 PM
Thursday, September 15th at 7:00 PM
Thursday, September 22nd at 7:30 PM
Monday, September 26th at 7:30 PM
Tuesday, September 27th at 7:00 PM
Monday, October 3rd at 6:00 PM
Thursday, October 6th at 7:30 PM

We look forward to seeing everyone again soon.
Go BEARS!

During last week’s August Family Seminar, Academic Dean Denise Savidge showcased how the Lessons of the Medicine Wheel will weave their way into the classroom for the 2011-2012 academic year. Her presentation has been converted to a pdf to share with you below:

Bringing the Medicine Wheel to the Classroom

Denise will be covering more details for the 2nd nine weeks at our next Family Seminar starting on November 2nd. Stay tuned!

Last week, Cherokee Creek was on Summer Break. For the handful of students on campus this meant fun field trips like the annual Granite City Trip with Teachers Nick Linscott and Betsy Riordan or the trip to the water park with Academic Dean Denise Savidge. For staff the break means training, skill development and, well, a good bit of sitting still.

What better way to close the week than a student and staff paddling trip on the Chattooga River? On Friday we headed out with all eight canoes, two ducks (inflatable kayaks) and a couple of personal staff boats for hours of good fun…and some new members of the Chattooga swim team. 

Check out the pictures below, including Alexander, Jackson, Primary Counselor Yanic McDowell and Therapist Carla Shorts leaping into the outflow from the famous Bull Sluice rapid. 

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Jon hold up his frozen prize!

Teachers Nick Linscott and Betsy Riordan headed to the river yesterday with 10 students, several pairs of gloves, trash bags, buckets and fishing gear. For the second year, Cherokee Creek is sponsoring the Earls Ford access to the Chattooga River. Through a volunteer agreement with the Forest Service, our staff and students participate in regular campsite and area clean up in exchange for a little bit if covented time at the river.

After filling several buckets with trash and cleaning out numerous fire pits, yesterday’s crew settled down for a picnic lunch and some fishin’. As luck would have it, our most avid student fisherman, Jon (pictured) landed a beastly trout: 17.5 inches long and just under 3 pounds.

Talk about a win win!

Davis, Drew and Spencer had the opportunity to enroll several new “students” today. Academic Dean Denise Savidge and Environmental Studies Teacher Betsy Riordan enbarked on an adventure this morning resulting in two new feathered friends (and one egg!) and several giant tadpoles.

It will be interesting to see what new critters emerge in the coming weeks! Pictures below:

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