December 13, 2008 -- After a rainy week, Saturday presented itself with a beautiful sunny sky for our trip to Bear Mountain State Park. On the agenda was ice-skating and a walk through Bear Mountain’s zoo. We met at PS 241 and soon learned that this would be only the first or second time that many of our nine sixth-graders had ever ice-skated.

Once we arrived, the students were both eager and tentative about getting on the ice. Some gripped onto the rink’s wall cautiously inching forward while others sped confidently around the rink....

Nobody let a few falls deter them from skating and after about an hour everybody’s skating abilities had much improved. Although reluctant to get off the ice, the children were also excited to see what else the day had to offer. Thus we were able to round them up for lunch and hot cocoa.

After lunch we walked over to the zoo where we saw coyotes, hawks, bears, and frogs. One girl, Raven, was quite excited to see a model of her namesake. The bears and bald eagle also ranked high on the children’s list of notables. As we exited the zoo we came across a lake at the foot of Bear Mountain. Annsa in particular enjoyed the scenic view saying she loved to draw and wanted to draw a picture of this beautiful scene. The children enjoyed seeing the animals, but perhaps even more they enjoyed being outside. As we wrapped up the trip, the children insisted on playing in the ‘snow’ collected by the ice rink’s Zamboni, running around and throwing snow balls at each other. It was a fun day all around for ICO volunteers and students alike.

Trip Report submitted by ICO Volunteer Megan Jung