Spontaneous excitement about learning occurs frequently at Rainbow Mountain. Recently, a preschool teacher sharpened some snazzy pencils, slipped sparkly gel grips on them, and set them out in a basket. Two children discovered them immediately and asked what they were for. “These are for practicing writing letters and words,” the teacher said. “Where can we get words?” asked an excited child. “Look around the room. We have words hiding all around us,” came the reply. The children immediately began to look and discovered words everywhere. The teacher supplied clipboards and showed the students how to hold and use them. Soon, with great excitement, they were moving around the classroom, diligently copying as many words as they could find and returning to ask what they said. Other children noticed and asked for their own clipboards. A ready supply of clipboards and snazzy pencils are now on the teacher’s desk.

Parents at Rainbow Mountain believe in modeling service to the community for their children. Last week, the American Red Cross Bloodmobile visited the campus so that several dozen parents could donate blood for the busy holiday travel season.

As part of their Appalachian thematic unit, Rainbow Mountain’s third and fourth grade students recently enjoyed Fall Festival 2009 at the Arthur Morgan School in Burnsville. Seventh, eighth and ninth graders from Arthur Morgan School planned and coordinated all the events. Over the course of three hours on a gorgeous fall day, each Rainbow child had the opportunity to press cider, dig for potatoes, take a hay ride, paint a mural, taste goat cheeses, and try their hand at blacksmithing; learning first hand how people lived in our beautiful part of the world.

As part of their Lewis and Clark thematic unit, fifth and sixth-grade students at Rainbow Mountain recently enjoyed a three-day camping trip at Pilot Mountain State Park, near Greensboro. After pitching tents, their days were packed with exploratory hikes, journaling and whittling activities, playing Native American games, and sharing songs and stories around the campfire. A five-mile canoe trip on the Dan River was the highlight for students, teachers and parent volunteers alike.