Walking around a farm in the middle of a Friday is not what you’d expect to be doing at school. But it’s what 10th graders were doing on October 1st.

Walking into Genesee Valley, we were greeted by a bunch of enthusiastic counselors – possibly more excited than us students. When we broke into advisory groups, each group got a counselor to show us around and lead us in games.

In one, we had to crawl through a rope tunnel with someone else coming through the other side. The goal was not to touch each other in the small space, while both getting across to the other side. Some people even tried it blindfolded! We also played a game where everyone had to try and get across six lily pads without touching the ground. The advisory groups were bigger than six people, and the area we had to cross was big enough that six platforms weren’t enough to get everyone across. If you weren’t touching the lily pad while it was on the ground, it would get taken away. We had to problem-solve, and along the way we lost a few lily pads, but eventually everyone got across safely.

While walking between games, counselors pointed out a three-legged goat, many turkeys, and other animals. They even had a super cute dog you were allowed to pet during lunch.

After everyone ate together, we went into our advisories again. This time, we all went into the woods. Some groups climbed a super tall fishnet in the trees, and a wooden pole that had handles you could use to get to the top. Once you reached the top of the pole, you would have to stand on it – then jump into thin air, to try and ring a bell a few feet away.

All of the activities were extremely engaging, along with challenging. The exhaustion was palpable on the bus ride back to Friends, but there was a mutual sense of satisfaction and community among the students.