Violet, Zach and Me after our first trip together.

Zach's Beautiful Canoe

While there are many great moments in teaching, I think there are some special ones that really touch you, that make you really happy to be working with kids. Today I was fortunate to have one of those moments.

In August of last year, Zach, a student who was in his third year with me at Trillium, decided that he wanted to build a canoe. This wasn't the first time I had a student voice an interest in a large project like this. Over the years many students have voiced their desires to build boats, rafts, model cars, etc, but all of them have given up into the planning stages or just when the building was about to begin. I don't blame them. The work that goes into such a project, especially for a young person of 10 years old, can be overwhelming. When Zach said he wanted to build a canoe I thought "great". Over the 3 years that I had known him, I knew that he had many talents and a definite drive and focus when he put his mind to something. I imagined him building a few models, doing some research, and throwing something together. What he was able to achieve over the past year was nothing short of spectacular.

He started out by doing some research on canoes and building a model of one that he thought looked good. This endeavor took a few months until he discovered a book called "The 6 Hour Canoe". It was a step by step guide to building a canoe from scratch designed for High School students.

With the support of his family he began to do a more in-depth investigation of canoe building, took a class to learn how to canoe and built a scale model of the canoe the book described. At this point of the year (some time in January) I knew that this project, and Zach's determination, was for real. I knew that he and I would one day (in the coming months) set a canoe into a river near Portland and paddle away. By the end of his 5th grade year (and his last with me) he had brought the canoe to its solid but unfinished form. His final exhibition in my advising class was a sight to behold. A beautiful 16 foot canoe stretched out on the risers in our library space.

But alas, there was even more work to do. Over the summer Zach sanded, epoxied, sanded some more, painted, stained, fiberglass taped, painted some more, trimmed, sanded even more, painted again, and with one night left before our official launch date (October 8th, 2006), he painted the name of his new craft on the bow, in the dark.

When I pulled up to Zach's house today the weather wasn't 68 and sunny like the news had predicted. In the overcast morning I saw a years worth of work (more than 200 hundred hours) securely fastened to the roof of his family's mini van. The name of his boat, in white letters, jumped out at me. Violet. A truly sweet gesture from an amazing kid.

The launch and first voyage was a great success. A little Oregon rain fell on us and helped prove that Violet was waterproof inside and out. We paddled around for about 30 minutes, testing her out. Finding a rhythm to our strokes. Meandering down river and then fighting the current on the way back.

When we got out of the canoe and back onto soggy land Zach said "the project is finally finished". Of course it wasn't. He now has a truly beautiful boat that any builder would be proud of (let alone an 11 year old boy) and I have made an even deeper connection with a student that I can, without hesitation, call a good friend.

Thanks Zach!

The maiden voyage of the good ship "Violet"

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Out on the water.

The proud builder and captain of this beautiful vessel

IT FLOATS!!!!!

The good ship "Violet" about to be unloaded for her maiden voyage.

Almost a year now

We are just 3 weeks away from Violet's first birthday. The joy that she continues to bring to our lives seems to grow everyday. To watch her soak up the world around her is to see the real joy of life manifesting itself in a little bitty body, mind and spirit. With the beginnings of her mobility and her language skills she is communicating and getting to see the world on terms that she is starting to define. Everyday she likes to make a trip up and down the stairs (while the way up has been pretty easy for several weeks now, she is just starting to really get the hang of going down feet first), point to all the things she wants to talk about, see or touch, and speaks to us with a growing list of words. Mama, Ba (ball), Daa (dog), and her new favorite HI!

She continues to love to go to swimming lessons and recently began a music class which really tickles her fancy. (Did I just write that?) She is eatting a greater variety of foods but still has her favorites (rice pasta, avacado, and grapes squeezed from their skin). Recently she has also been pretty hot on brocolli and yoghurt.

She continues to love books and the dogs. While Hank and Stanley were a little nervous when she first started to crawl, they are started to see the advantages of this little mobile creature. They get plenty of leftovers from her meals and she likes to throw the tennis ball to them as well. They have also started to watch out for her. On occassion they will let us know she has awoken and is crying (if we are upstairs) by barking or licking us. Not quite Lasey, but close.

Please enjoy the short montage of images and video that were taken over the past month or so.

The October Montage

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