Waking Up at 2:30 with Freedom in the Airport

Written by Arlo and Kastle  

When we started our adventure we had to wake up super early to avoid missing our flight, which was only 45 minutes! When we got to the Seattle airport we had almost complete freedom to roam and buy food and other things. By the time we got to the New Mexico airport, we had been very tired and ready for some sleep since the three-hour flight was exhausting.

Call Home on the First Night

By Skyler and Porter

It was a memorable experience when we called our parents. Some of us got homesick so calling their parents helped a little bit. All of our parents were very happy To know we made it to New Mexico safely. Most of us called and explained a couple of things that we did so far in a few minutes. A couple of people got sad because we only had a limited amount of time to call our parents.

Our WLS Leaders

By Skyler and Porter

Benji was a very kind staff member for our trip. He was very understanding and taught me and the others a lot. He taught me how to make rope and bracelets out of plants. He is an awesome person.

Kerri at times was strict in a good way but in general was very nice. She bought some food for us in the Meow Wolf shop when we did not have enough money. She taught us many things and was a great person. 

Nicolee was also a great person. She was also strict in a good way but nice to everyone and helped the group get in order and follow directions a lot. She also loves Hawaii and rainbows.

Gerald was an amazing person. He was so welcoming to everyone to go into the school and was very kind. We were all appreciative of him so he was to us. He made us all feel so welcome when we arrived and helped keep the class in order. He was a great add on to the trip.   

World leadership school staff.

By Aston and Buck

During the New Mexico trip we had world leadership school staff with us leading the trip. They were Nicollee, Benji, and Kerri. They were all so nice. Nicollee is from Hawaii and has over 30 years of experience in WLS. Benji and Kerri are newer. Kerri is from Virginia and Benji is from Wisconsin. We first met them at the Albuquerque airport, and then they gave us some snacks to welcome us. There was a bus outside to transport our luggage to the Cochiti school. The WLS staff showed an AMP and ANCHOR. We did AMP in the morning and ANCHOR in the evening. AMP stands for analyze, manage, and prepare. ANCHOR stands for, Appreciate, news, concerns, health, oh cool, and reflection. After that, they picked nine SPS students to be leaders of the day and they controlled AMP and ANCHOR. Aston's favorite WLS is Benji because he is very easygoing and cooperative and lead my group in Meow Wolf. Bucks favorite WLS is Benji and Nicollee because Nicollee was so nice and her energy was so good and Benji was so cool he was chill he would let us stay up and he was just fun.

Our first meal and the other food -

Clara and Charlotte

Our first meal after we arrived was spaghetti and a salad with a side of bread. We ate in the new gym's lobby and that was our cafeteria for the rest of the week. You could either drink water from your water bottle or Kool-Aid. The reason the first meal was so important was that we met the cooks and an elder from the Cochiti pueblo(brenard) came and blessed our dinner. Bernard also told us about some things to do when we went to Bandelier National Park. It was an amazing experience to hear their native language and some things we can do to respect their land and their ancestors.    

Tuesday for breakfast we had eggs and pancakes, I didn’t really like the eggs but the pancakes were ok.  We ate at scattered tables in the new gym’s lobby. We also had Kool-Aid for a drink. We would eat for about 30 minutes. For lunch we all got a bag with a turkey lettuce and cheese sandwich, we also had vanilla yogurt and lays potato chips. We had soup and pasta salad for dinner. The soup had cauliflower in it and there was an option to put chili sauce on it.  

On Wednesday we ate oatmeal and half of a banana. Some people liked the oatmeal and some did not. Personally, I didn't like it but everyone still ate it. For lunch we had a frito pie, the base was chile with Fritos in it, the Fritos were a little soggy, then for topping there was cheese, lettuce, onion, and tomatoes. It was very good. When dinner came around we had chicken soup with corn chips, we also had bread with it, this was my favorite meal.

On Thursday for breakfast, we had cheerios with either oat or cow milk. For a drink, we had either milk or a variety of juice. Then for lunch, we had sandwiches, chips, and trail mix which was made up of almonds and a type of dried fruit. We ate on the sidewalk in downtown Santa Fe. For dinner, we had either a chicken beef, or vegetarian burrito. The ones with meat were a little heavy on the refried beans but overall they were good. On Friday morning we ate a really delicious breakfast which we chose from a buffet. Although the mini muffins were a little bit dry the breakfast was really good and it was nice being able to choose what you ate. For lunch, we ate at the airport and we had sandwiches and potato salad along with a cookie.   

Elle's contribution: "We went on a hike at the Bandelier National Monument. We saw their houses and the structure of their houses. We climbed ladders to an opening in the cave walls. We climbed 140 feet on ladders to get to a kiva, which is a very spiritual space to the Cochiti people. It was also very hot and dry out. On our way to the bus, we saw a rattlesnake! [Luckily, it slithered quickly away from us and no one was hurt.]"

According to Charlotte: "When we arrived we had a snack, then we split up into three groups. Our group had three leaders: Charlotte (me), Logan, and Acacia. Our group (Group 3) played a game called, "What's in My Backpack?" Then we went to a museum. It was so cool and interesting. Then we started out hike. We walked for about 20 minutes when we had lunch. Then we continued walking. When we made it to the holes in the walls, we climbed the ladder up to the wall caves. We continued the hike to the main attraction. When we finally got there we started to climb the really tall ladder. When we got to the top, it was a very beautiful view. We made our way down and walked back to the bus."

Maddie says, "The part when we climbed the four ladders had my adrenaline pumping! The lemonade was also really good."

From Eloise, "Today we went to Bandelier National Park and saw the cave dwellings. We also saw a squirrel with really funny ears that kind of looked like Lynx ears."

A.M.P.

Entry by: Zoe

Every day, mostly more than once, we would A.M.P. which stands for analyze, manage, and prepare. We would do this before almost every activity. It helped us prepare and not hurt ourselves or our equipment. Let's use setting up tents as an example to demonstrate how this would work. We had to set up tents outside to sleep in but they were set up inside!! So we analyzed what could go wrong with taking down the tents and setting them back up. I will use the graph we used to do this.

  Breaking Poles - - - - - - - - - Being extra careful - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -No Preparation

  Ripping tent fabric - - - - - - - Don’t drag the fabric on the floor - - - - - -No Preparation

  Getting Sunburned - - - - - -  Put on sunscreen - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Get Sunscreen         

  Dehydrated - - - - - - - - - - -   Having a full water bottle - - - - - - - - - - -Filling up your waterbottle

  Not knowing how - - - - - - -   Have a demonstration - - - - - - - - - - - - -No Preparation

  Getting hurt - - - - - - - - - - - - Being extra careful - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - No Preparation

This is what A.M.P.ing would look like.

A.N.C.H.O.R.

By Zae

On the first night, we discovered that WLS (World Leadership School) does a ceremony every night before bed called A.N.C.H.O.R. A.N.C.H.O.R stands for Appreciate, News, Concerns, Health, Oh Cool, and Reflect. During Appreciate, we could raise our hand and say a thing or person we appreciated during the day. Multiple people could raise their hands and you could raise your hand more than once. For News, our leaders (whether it was one of the three daily student leaders or one of the WLS leaders) would go over the events of the next day. Next was Concerns. It used the same format as Appreciate; we could all raise our hands and we could raise our hands multiple times except instead of saying things we appreciate, we would express any concerns we had. After that, we all put our heads down and covered our eyes so that Health was private. For Health, our WLS leaders asked us questions about our health that day and we would respond with a thumbs up or a thumbs down. The WLS leaders wanted us to close our eyes so nobody’s answers would be affected by embarrassment. Then, we did Oh Cool. Oh Cool used the same format as Appreciate or Concerns but instead of sharing appreciations or concerns, we shared cool things we saw that day. Finally, we did Reflect. Our WLS leader would ask us a question and we would reflect on it. I think it was a surprise to all of us on the first night when we had to go do a six-step process when we were all super tired.

Tricia and Nicky’s House

Maddie’s experience: When we first arrived at Tricia and Nicky’s house, they were super welcoming and we all sat down to find out what we were going to do. Tricia started to tell us about paper bread, how it was made, and how many women made it. She told us about how she traditionally makes it with her hands on a super hot rock in a little house-like kitchen that is separate from the actual house where only the paper bread is made but if she made it in her house, she would just use a 400 degree pan. They offered us some coke and more paper bread as we started to sit down for Nicky's part of teaching us. He told us about the traditional clothing that boys and girls wear for special dances. The boys sometimes wear an animal costume that has a headpiece with the horns of that animal on it and other times some of the things that they wear are these super fascinating outfits with skirts and a shell sash that you wear so when you dance it lets the spirits know that something is going on. Some of the girls' clothing that I strongly remember are these beautiful headpieces that they had to wear all day and are hand painted. One of their sons painted one so we got to hold it. Nickey also showed us a gigantic pair of antlers that he harvested from an elk. He had told us that he had many mounts of antlers in their backyard but we didn't get to see them, we just got to see a small pair of antlers, a big pair of antlers, and taxidermy deer. 

Henry's Experience: When we first arrived at Tricia & Nicky’s House they welcomed us and asked us to take a seat. Then, Tricia began casually making paper bread on a “mini stove” of sorts that was heated to 400℉. For reference, the technique for making paper bread involves spreading the dough across a heated surface with your fingertips, in this case, a “mini stove” heated to 400℉ so, very hot, and Tricia casually spread the dough across it. As she did this she explained how the bread was traditionally made on a hot rock and how only a handful of women in the pueblo could make it. She also explained how she would pray to the rock the bread was traditionally made on by “feeding” it cornmeal. Immediately after that Nicky showed us his creations such as a bow and arrows both made of Juniper and the ceremonial garb and helmet for the antelope dance. 

He also showed us the ceremonial dirt mixture that men would put under their eyes while running and he told us about how runners would put obsidian arrowheads in their mouths to combat a dry mouth. After Nicky was done Trisha gave us all the remaining paper bread in paper towels to take on the bus they sent us on our way.    

 Water Balloon Fight 

By Logan & Kyler

This was a memorable part of my trip. This activity brought the Cochiti and the SPS community together. When we played this fun and exceeding game it enabled us to play together despite our differences. It helped because of the extreme weather (HOT!!) and it cooled us down. One flaw is that the balloons didn’t pop. It caused us to make friends and make a deeper connection. After this exhilarating experience, we were all hungry so we sat down to enjoy a meal with our newly found friends.

Painting benches - 

Grayton

I liked painting picnic benches because I worked with one of the Cochiti kids and I already knew how to paint so it wasn't hard. We had fun talking about Fortnite and Skibadee toilet and we laughed and someone dripped paint on my head. In the end,  even though we didn't completely finish, I think that we did a good job and we laughed and had a fun time.

Sawyer 

I really enjoyed painting the benches with one of the Cochiti school kids because we got to bond and get to know how similar we are to each other. While painting benches we laughed, had fun, and overall it was a memorable experience. When we were talking we found out that they play the same games and wear very similar clothes and we also found out that a lot of people assume that they speak Spanish since they are so close to the Mexican border.

Giving out beanies!

By: Aston and Buck

When we went to New Mexico we did a lot of cool things but our favorite was giving out beanies! Every person brought a beanie from Bend, OR, and we set them down on a table so every student would walk up and grab a beanie they liked. Before that the Leaders of the day talked about why they brought beanies. We brought them because they are very popular in Bend and it is a gift to thank them for being very welcoming and kind. The students loved them and they were very thankful. four special beanies were given out to the teachers and two to the cooks. After we gave them the beanies they gave everyone a good cold treat, a popsicle. They were very good because it was very hot outside.

A Visit with Bernard

Entry from Zae

On Tuesday night half the class went to Benard's house in the pueblo. Before we went to his house he gave us a tour of the Pueblo. We saw the outside of the two kivas and the houses for the kivas. The houses are used to practice the ceremonial events. After our tour, we entered Bernard's house and he explained how his house was still made of adobe, despite it looking like plaster. This is because the house was modernized by adding stucco on the outside walls. We also learned Bernard was the head war chief of the village - the highest position you could be in. He had a very cool and old staff that represented his position. He will be in this position for one year and on December 28th he will hand the staff back to the church. The church will then decide on the new leader in the early morning of December 29th. He explained all the other positions of government in their pueblo. Another cool thing we learned is that Bernard makes jewelry. He passed around many materials he used to make silver jewelry such as polished stones, unpolished stones, and a ring sizer. While we looked at those interesting things, he started to make a ring as a demonstration. Before long, we only had 20 minutes left before we had to meet at the bus. For those last 20 minutes, we had a chance to look at all the amazing pieces of jewelry Bernard has already made and we could buy some if we wanted to. 

The reflection poem

Bernard’s house 

by Myles and Bruno

We wandered on the mystical land of the Cochiti people

The wind drifts through our hair

We look out at all to see

Taking in the magical air

We look out at the land 

Where generations of corn have grown

We honor this land with a prayer

That reminds Bernard of home

He loves to make things

Out of coral and turquoise

like pretty little rings

And he shares them with girls and boys 

He makes many more little things,

Such as bracelets and necklaces 

But he makes one more thing

Which is love that he pours into everything

He is respected in his culture

Elected war chief for the year

A position in their government

Equivalent to a president 

In the early 1700’s

Their culture was invaded by Spanish influence 

And that is why

They have the catholic church

However,

They still belong to their traditional beliefs

Holding dances

And annual feasts

The Cochiti people love to make art

Out of beads and paint

The paint starts to fade

But their culture stays the same

On the flight home,

I was thinking of Bernard

I was so lonely

How he is working so hard.

The lieutenant governor and tribal officials

By Logan & Kyler

During our stay at Cochiti Pueblo, we learned about the tribal officials and the lieutenant governor. They came to talk about their positions in the community. They are one below Bernard but they go out and file lawsuits and other things like that. The cool thing is that they still stick to their old system and they also took up the current one which makes their economy so different.

OLD TOWN SHOPPING

By Carson

Old Town’s plaza was cool. I was in a group with Gayton, Kastle, and Aston and the stores were cool. The general store sold everything you could think of, from hot dogs to bottles of air!? After the general store, we went next door to Haagen-Dazs ice cream and I got a really good birthday cake milkshake. 

By Silas

On the fourth day, we went shopping in Santa Fe there was a strip mall with massive sculptures made of scrap metal selling for 50,000 dollars we were able to shop for one hour our group went to almost all the stores lots of stores were selling pottery one store sold wood carvings of coyotes for hundreds of dollars every shop was super expensive so you had to decide if you wanted what you were going to buy 

Meow Wolf

By Acacia and Rixey

On Thursday the 6th  we went to Meow Wolf. The Santa Fe Meow Wolf is called the “House of Eternal Return” and it is about a family that goes missing. You have to crack the case by going through fireplaces, finding clues, reading articles, pulling on bookshelves, and more. There are so many rooms with so many entrances and exits. It is called the “House of Eternal Return '' because of all the different interpretations of what might be happening or have happened to the Selig family. 

When we first got off the bus we were told to sit on and around a decorative bench then two employees came out and while one put wristbands on our wrists the other explained the rules and regulations as well as the mystery we would have to solve. Once we had finished there we went inside to find a quirky cafe and gift shop. Then the teachers/ instructors told us to group into our performing arts classes then to choose smaller groups from there. I was in a group with Rixey, Clara, and Zoë. After breaking into our small groups we bought special glasses and we were off. It was a little freaky at first walking into an old-fashioned kind of home where a family went missing but we eventually got over it. There were so many rooms we started by reading a note that was left in the office before going through the fireplace to find an icy world with a wooly mammoth skeleton that you could play if you banged on it with a drumstick. Next, we turned a corner to find a colorful fish tank with a scuba diver. When we went back up to the living room we discovered that we had been in the family's fish tank and we were missing our group member. We found her and it turned out she had started to piece some stuff together while we were exploring. Once we had heard what our team members had learned we showed them the fish tank and the iceworld before we continued exploring. We first wandered into a forest with towering trees that you could take staircases up or sit inside of surrounded by comfy cushions. After some exploring there we realized that we were lost and went back to the house to see if we could find someone from Seven Peaks or at least find some clues. That is all I'll say for now because I would not want to be the one to ruin it for your class if next year you go.  

This year we went to Meow Wolf in Santa Fe “ House Of Eternal Return” “First we got off the bus and sat on very colorful benches right outside the entrance, as we sat there a guy came around and started putting our wristbands on. After that, a worker came and started telling us the rules and things we could get in trouble or kicked out for. She finished explaining and we went inside, when we got inside there were colors everywhere and it was so abstract and beautiful. We were standing there and Mr. Davies told us to get into groups, these were the groups that we would travel through the exhibits with. Then he told us that in our groups we would go through it and the group to get the best answer to what happened in this house. In the House of Eternal Return, there are millions of different answers. The people who got the most research and theories would get to choose the movie that we would watch in PA. After we all had our groups it was time to go in. 

Inside we first walked into a house and none of us really knew what was happening at this point, and we were all kind of just wandering. Soon enough we started to figure out where we could go, and all the groups started breaking off and doing their own thing. My group decided to go through the fireplace first and if you don’t know in Meow Wolf you can go through fridges, doors, shelves, fireplaces, and more to get to different rooms. Anyway we went through the fireplace and it led us to a really big room with a big skeleton, we walked over to it and inside it, there were drumsticks that we could use to bang on the bones. All the bones made different musical sounds and chords. We left that spot and started heading over to this very colorful passage that had colorful coral and a diver then it hit us, we were walking through the fish tank. Earlier in the living room we had seen a fish tank with colorful coral and a little diver. We kept going and we entered a huge room with big trees with eyes on them, the floor was fake grass and cushiony green pillows, and there were ladders up some of the trees and ways to go inside some of them. There were a lot of people there so we decided to move on to a different room. We went to the bottom of the tree and we went into a room that looked like there was candy everywhere and very soft benches. We sat down and realized that we couldn’t find anyone and we were kinda lost. So if guys go to Meow Wolf next year don’t wander away from everyone in case you need help. My group needed some more clues from the house so we retraced our steps to the house and did some more exploring this time instead of going to the fireplace we went to the fridge and it took us to a very white room with a hologram lady talking in words we didn’t understand. When our time was up we had seen all the rooms. I couldn't explain them all because that is just too much. Hope you get to go. Bye 

To the fifth graders, sorry I couldn’t share any of what happened in the House of Eternal Return, that's because you guys might go there next year. If you go, have fun.

Bishop's Ridge

By Ella & Olivia

Bishop’s Ridge was so fun! First, we drove from Cochiti school on a bus to Meow Wolf, then we made our way in the bus to Bishop’s Ridge where we unloaded at camp when we arrived. There were so many things to do there! There was chess, a piano, ping pong, a basketball game, a gaga ball, bracelet-making stuff, a piano, foosball, and beanbag toss. Everyone was so excited to stay there. We first got split up into cabin groups and walked over to the cabins, the groups were split up into green and blue groups and the cabins were so nice inside! We put all of our bags in the cabin that we were assigned to and had some free time to chill before dinner. The inside of the building where we had dinner is used for church and it was so big and pretty, there was a back patio and the view was so nice and there were tables, basketball, bracelet making, bean bag toss, and ping pong outside! Dinner was burritos and they were delicious! We ate them on the outside tables, then after we ate, we had free time to do any of the activities we wanted. We spent a lot of the evening just hanging out and doing activities. The most popular activities that everyone mostly did were gaga ball, piano, foosball, and basketball. 

We started getting ready for bed at 8 pm since the lights out was at 9:30. Some girls showered at night and others just chilled in their pajamas in their cabins and waited for lights out. After showering, everyone got their pajamas on and brushed their teeth to get ready for bed but everyone had so much energy while trying to go to bed that it was like 10:50 when people finally chilled out. Some people played cards in their cabins till’ 10:00. Sleeping was normal for some people and other people complained about a cricket that kept waking them up which was funny. The next morning we woke up at 6 am to shower, get ready for the day, and go down to breakfast. We packed up our bags before going to eat put them in front of our cabins and headed to breakfast. For breakfast, we had eggs, mini muffins, yogurt, bacon, potatoes, biscuits, fruit, cereal, toast, granola bars, and punch. After breakfast, we all gathered Then we hiked to a spot in the woods and had our closing ceremony. Finally, the bus arrived and we put our bags in the bus and drove to the airport.

Breakfast + Sun Circle Reflection!

Natalia and Royal

On the last night of the New Mexico Trip, we stayed at Bishop's Ridge, and in the morning we had the best breakfast we had on the whole trip. I think most of our class would agree with that. We had eggs, bacon, yogurt, cereal, oranges, apples, muffins, potatoes, biscuits, and toast. Then if we finished breakfast we could have some free time to play games or make bracelets. After we were done with breakfast and all packed up we took a little hike with the whole class. To meet for the last time. The camp was kind of in the middle of nowhere so we took a small trail through the trees. When we arrived at our destination we saw that it was a dried-up riverbed. Benji said that during the rainy season, the rain would flood and come into that river bed. But at that time it was very dry. On the way there I saw a bunch of really pretty rocks. Ms. Evans said that it was called quartzite. (I did take some home). We all sat in a big circle and the WLS leaders took out a little night light. They turned it on and told us that this was the sun. That’s why it was called the sun circle. We would then pass it around the circle and say something that you grew in personally on this trip. A lot of people I think pushed their comfort zone and learned to be flexible. I normally don’t like being away from home but, this trip I am slightly more comfortable. I still don’t like being away from home though. So this trip helped me cope with my fear. But I think we all thought about our lives at home in the circle and after meeting the Cochiti people we are all even more grateful for what we have. At least I hope they are. I think this trip really opened our eyes to real life.