Sign you're on the right track?
A student came into the library this morning and had to tell me something I had inspired him to do. I’m thinking, “Great! Now what have I done?” When he was in 5th grade, his class and I completed an entire unit on the Appalachian Trail, also known as the AT. We read a novel set on the AT, watched actual footage, and researched hiking, food, gear, and everything else you’d need to know to hike this amazing 2,000+ mile trail.
So this summer when he was at Boy Scout camp up in North Carolina, he went whitewater rafting. They happened to stop in a place on the river where the Appalachian Trail crossed over via a bridge. This student, because of me, went over to several of the hikers who were sitting and drinking water and talked to them. He was amazed at how nice they were, and how BIG their packs were.
One told him how he’d been hiking two weeks now, and had started down in Georgia. He only hiked ten miles a day instead of 15 like most people, and he had hundreds of feet of mountains to climb on the way north. But he highly recommended that my student hike the trail one day.
What a wonderful way to start my day! And what a great way for a student to tie a seemingly theoretical lesson into real life. Now I wonder if he’s been bitten by the AT bug? He wouldn’t be the first!
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The Barefoot Librarian 
Ms. Baker
September 1, 2010
What a great post! I have been bitten by the AT bug also and plan to hike the Pennsylvania section.
Louise Baker
North Allegheny Sr. HS Librarian
Pittsburgh, PA
louisecolette
September 1, 2010
Maybe you can post to your blog when you do this; then students could follow you!
SCrippen
September 1, 2010
That’s so awesome he took the time to tell you. Especially in these difficult economic times when librarians are being cut everywhere, it’s nice to hear that we do make a difference–one kid at a time!
Good for you!!
lbrown
September 1, 2010
How nice that you were able to open his world enough to let him walk through the door and make a connection with real hikers! There’s a real-world experience he’ll never forget.
Nancy
September 2, 2010
I have a friend who has been hiking the AT since March. She is now in New Hampshire, almost to Maine! I am so proud of her! I have the bug too, but I also know I don’t have the physicality to do the hike. But I spent a couple of days with her in NC back in April at a hikers’ B&B, and I love the people too! They are nice and the camaraderie on the trail is amazing. People from 18 – 70 all friends and supporting each other. It’s great!
Jen
September 4, 2010
What was the novel you read with them?
louisecolette
September 24, 2010
It was Halfway to the Sky by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. It was one of the $2 sale books in our Scholastic Book Fair this year. I had been to Amicalola Falls, the closest park to the start of the AT, the summer before so the book got my attention.