THETFORD, Vt. (WCAX) – For those who love the outdoors, especially during the winter months, the lack of snow has many feeling the blues. But when the flakes finally arrive, students at Thetford Academy will be ready.
Students in Scott Ellis’ environmental studies and outdoor education class put the final touches on a project several months in the making– handmade snowshoes.
“It gets me more involved I say because sitting in a classroom all day can be kind of boring,” said Aylhea Labadie, a sophomore.
“I like being hands-on, seeing what I make,” said Andrew Fraser, a sophomore.
Last fall, a white ash tree on campus was dropped for the wood. The kids then cut it with a portable mill, formed it at a nearby wood shop and eventually laced the webbing using nylon rope.
“If you make one mistake and you don’t see it early on, you got to unlace everything,” Fraser said.
The bindings were the last step. Messing up was part of the lesson plan.
“That is almost intentional. To learn about yourself through doing something that is hard. And the benefit is if you make a mistake, you just take it out and start over again,” Ellis explained.
“It shows us it is not going to end if we mess up,” Labadie said.
After a quick fitting, the students ventured outside to their outdoor classroom. And for the first time, they reaped the fruits of their labor in the setting for which the snowshoes were intended.
“It’s igniting the academic curiosity of kids and using a resource that we have right here,” Ellis said.
Of course, this year, snow has been hard to come by. Mid-February bare patches on Thetford Academy’s campus are out of the ordinary.
“Definitely one of the most disappointing with snow, because I love skiing and all that,” Labadie said.
“Not great,” Fraser said. “I’ve only been once or twice.”
“I’m still going out; we have just enough,” Ellis said.
Now, snowshoes are another option for outdoor recreation. However, a new season is right around the corner.
“We’ll be doing a maple sugaring unit coming up, so the seasons are always moving,” Ellis said.
The students will be spending an overnight at a Dartmouth Outing Club cabin near Moose Mountain to celebrate their hard work, where they will once again put their new snowshoes to the test.