For five weeks this autumn a motivated group of 12 student athletes from Craftsbury Academy have been at the Center each Thursday afternoon for a two hour special activity block. In the process of building a new gym, the school has been forced to be resourceful for awhile. But this is an easy collaboration:  kids who want to learn some new skills and our facilities and staff to provide them the opportunities here at the Center and at Hosmer Point.

PE teacher Don Pierce and teacher Rob Libby brought the idea to the Center and we’ve been running with it. So far the teens have sculled two times, completed a demanding circuit session in the fitness room capped off with an erg relay, had an afternoon of bouldering at Hosmer Point and they were on the water today with a canoe outing on Big Hosmer

Future weeks will include archery, orienteering and trail running. The idea of moving through a number of activities means the kids get a chance to try lots of new things with a rotating staff of different instructors. The program will continue through the winter with nordic skiing, snowshoeing and broom ball on the Touring Center pond.

Rob Libby thinks the first few weeks have been great for the athletes, “The Craftsbury staff has been encouraging and supportive of the students and I believe they are responding well. The coaches have effective methods to get our students to try new activities and they’ve been able to encourage the kids to work hard.

”It's been great to have the students on campus, making use of the wide variety of facilities here. While the new school gym will be great, it's been a blast having the kids around this fall!