In the second week of school, Compass junior high students and teachers ventured out to Beaver Island. We took the school vans and drove to Charlevoix, where we then took a ferry out to the Island.
Once we got there, we visited the maritime museum and the print shop. They were both amazing experiences, and everyone had a great time. After, we headed over to the CMU Biology station, where we stayed throughout the course of the trip. We got to meet Alex, Alliss, and Jaki, the employees that worked at CMU. We ended our first day with sunset volleyball and a delicious dinner curated by our favorite Jaki.
On the second day, we got to meet with the Beaver Island 7th and 8th-year students and their principal, Mr. Will. We learned about bug ecology and dune life. We also visited Miller's Marsh and studied the soil there. We then headed to the Big Rock, which is actually made of a stone that's from Ohio, but the glaciers carried it all the way to Beaver Island! We fit all of the students from both schools on the rock.
On our last day, we met with an insightful person named Shelbi. She told us about Native American culture and history. She then took us to the stone circle, which is an arrangement of ancient stones. The circle is made up of about 200 stones. No one knows exactly why the stones were placed there, but people know that it’s significant. We then had some time to kill, and we found out that our friends from the Beaver Island school were having a soccer game, so we showed up at their school to watch them, but sadly, we couldn't stay for the soccer game, but we got to see the high school volleyball team play. We said our goodbyes and made our way to the ferry. We were sad to leave, but the memories we cherish will last for a lifetime. Thank you to our guides for making this experience possible