Intensive Learning @ MFS
The World At Your Fingertips
Today we further explored the work of improvisation. Our teachers led us through many activities throughout the day. We started with team building exercises and slowly worked our way up to larger scale improvisation. During these exercises, we had the opportunity to push ourselves out of our comfort zones. After lunch we did an...
Continue reading
Today, we were joined by a triad of Newmans, a Truman, as it were. Today, it all came together. Shouts of “Hot Metal!” rang through the through the trees, followed by the glorious clank of metal, anvil, and hammer coming together in the anthracite-laden morning air. We maintained fire in our forges for most...
Continue reading
We started our day with a 40-minute bus ride to the Cunningham Piano Factory in Germantown where we were greeted by Rich Galassani, one of the co-owners of the Cunningham Piano Company. He gave us a private tour of the whole restoration and manufacturing facility. As we made our way through the first floor...
Continue reading
Today’s theme was community growth. We started off our day as usual with a 20-minute morning meditation video to clear our minds and get us ready for the day. The theme was loving-kindness and compassion, which are important steps towards building community. After our meditation we did a yoga session led by Mr. Harmenil,...
Continue reading
Today was a pretty slow day in preparation for our feast tomorrow. First thing in the morning we trimmed and rubbed our pork butts to prepare them for the 18-hour smoking time. We’re practically pros after having done the same process for our ribs on Monday. We cut up some of the scrap meat...
Continue reading
Today, the Careers in Music Intensive Learning group went on a walk down Philly music history in the form of a 3-hour long fun-filled bus tour. The tour featured an amazing, groovy tour guide that knew everything about Philly’s rich music history. The bus driver/tour guide drove around the entire city to show monumental...
Continue reading
Our fourth day of Chinese Culture IL started with a taiji session. At 9:20, we went into the Blue Gym and learned about the uses of taiji, which helps blood flow, increases energy, and helps build muscle strength. After that, we practiced taiji and found that it requires consistency, balance, and flexibility. At around...
Continue reading
Today we woke up bright and early and visited the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center after eating breakfast at our hotel. We were given a brief guided tour while riding through the property on the bus. We saw bison, bears, foxes, deer, elk, and wolves in their large enclosures. After visiting the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation...
Continue reading
Today South Jersey Service traveled to the Ronald McDonald House in Camden, NJ. We kicked off the day with a trip to Acme. There, we were able to pick up all of the ingredients for lunch for the House residents. We also had fun picking out some snacks and stuffed animals for us to...
Continue reading
Today we went to Belleplain State Forest in Egg Harbor Township. We got to see more of the Pine Barrens, but this area was closer to the coast so featured more wetlands and cedar trees. We walked along the Old Cape Trail. There were some smaller waterways around us. Our plan was to walk...
Continue reading
To begin the day, we went over our theme of spiritual and ethical growth and looked into the rules that we live our life by; we journaled about that for a short time. That transitioned nicely into our 20-minute mindfulness meditation in which we were challenged to follow our breath as we embraced ambient...
Continue reading
On our third day day of Low and Slow, we started off the day by lighting the coals and taking out our prepared ribs that had been sitting in the refrigerator overnight. We bent them into spirals, securing them with wooden skewers (to fit all six racks into the relatively small smoker) and put...
Continue reading
Today, we ventured to the Lutheran Home in Moorestown. Some students spent some time interacting with residents suffering from dementia, while other students interacted with the other residents at the home. To get the most information, we (Nicholas & Charlie) split up. From game playing to storytelling and piano playing, both us and the...
Continue reading
We woke up at 6 am for an early start to our day. Once we got out of bed we piled into the vans and made our way over to the Second Harvest Food Bank. At Second Harvest Food Bank we had the opportunity to make a total of 3000 meals for elementary schools...
Continue reading
Today, we visited the Pig Iron Theatre in Philadelphia. It’s a school that teaches students acting and directing, but it’s also open to the general public, like our class field trip. They taught us a lot about body language and how people can present themselves to show off their personalities; we got to apply...
Continue reading