Reading the newspaper reminds us that fate can deal us wonderful things…and it can deal us disasters. In today’s world, where society honors the Horatio Alger, “pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps,” kind of success, it can be easy to believe that the guy next to us who seems so unlucky really just didn’t try hard enough. The news, the Internet, and just common lore love a story of triumphing over adversity. But just how much adversity is too much to overcome?
Our Upper Primary students are engaged in a simulation of the colonization of America, and they are learning “firsthand” how fate can deal some insurmountable hurdles. As students work in teams to get their ships across the Atlantic and safely landed in the new world, they are learning many things beyond the history of colonization. Making decisions as a group is an important skill they practice as they plan their journey. What food and materials do they need to bring on their trip and what is the best way to pack it to reduce the risk of losing it? What if an illness breaks out in the confined quarters of the ship? How will they handle sanitation? If the weather becomes dangerous, what to do? What if they lose some of their provisions when a ship goes down? How can they save members of their group who were on that foundering ship?
These may all seem like far-fetched problems for the students to deal with, but in fact they are closer to home than is obvious at first. These same students just returned from a winter skills trip into the cold, snowy backcountry. During that trip, they faced similar questions about how to remain safe both individually and as a group in treacherous conditions. Packing and planning were key skills they built, as was collaboration. Instead of figuring out how to help a drowning team member, the students learned how to help one who was caught in an avalanche. Rather than transporting their food on ships through the ocean, they worked to pull the food on sleds through the snow. But just as the pilgrims struggled with the exigencies of colonizing the new world, the students struggled with how to live “off the grid” in the backcountry of Colorado in unpredictable winter weather
Fate dealt the colonists many tough cards, and though our students managed to avoid any tragedies on their winter skills trip, they did experience firsthand some of the struggles of being away from the everyday support of our modern society. As the student simulation continues, and fate cards arrive with news that may completely destroy the very best efforts of a team, an important lesson is that no matter how hard we try and with what good intentions we go forth into the world, problems can happen that don’t always end in a happy conclusion. The news reminds us that the homeless family sitting next to us may be approaching the problems they encounter as bravely as our own backcountry expeditionaries or even those rugged and determined colonists. Through opportunities like the winter skills trip and the colonial simulation, we help our children be as well prepared as possible for tough situations, but we also want them to learn to be empathetic toward those who have been dealt one disastrous fate card too many.
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