Newbury, Vt.
NES principal Chance Lindsley feels the school’s field trip up Tucker Mountain on Thursday was the embodiment of those goals. While a school-wide ascent of Tucker has been an annual tradition for about a decade, this year the trip coincided with the United Nations’ International Day of Peace, since 1981 celebrated on Sept. 21 to commemorate and strengthen the ideals of peace worldwide.
Also for the first time, the NES contingent met Bradford Elementary School students at the top of Tucker. In pristine conditions amid the summit’s vast views, the group took in music by Newbury fiddler Patrick Ross as well as speeches and poetry by Oxbow High students.
Finally, the group of more than 500 people — members of the community were invited to join the schools’ students and faculty — stood with arms linked to form a giant peace sign while members of the Blue Mountain Union School robotics team captured footage with a drone.
“I think today had everything that we’d hoped for,” said Lindsley, after the hike. “The music was beautiful, and the speeches by the high school students were so inspiring, had so much depth. Having Bradford Elementary School there, I think, was a great show of unity.”
After reviewing leave-no-trace principles and other general rules for the hike — everyone was to carry his or her own backpack, symbolic of carrying one’s own weight toward world peace, Lindsley said — the NES contingent filed out of the school cafeteria around 8:30 a.m., the same time the area’s early morning fog began to burn off. Many wore buttons decorated with various symbols of peace, created by students in teacher Eirene Mavodones’ art class.
A short bus ride later, students began to climb Tucker Mountain Road, a steep dirt road that doubles as the mountain’s primary hiking route. Students were broken into teams based on the animal affiliations they’re assigned to at school — zebras, lions, buffaloes and more. Each was partnered with buddies, matching students from younger grades with a big kid from grades 5 or 6.
With a moderately slow clip and plenty of stops to examine curiosities like rocks, insects and roadside gullies, the group trundled upward engrossed in energetic conversation.
The annual trek up Tucker is one of teacher Geraint Jones’ favorite school days of the year.
“Hey, what better way to get out of the classroom?” Jones said. “It’s a beautiful mountain, and it gives us the chance to get some exercise and have kids from all of the different grades interact with one another.”
Arriving at the summit, the group admired views that included New Hampshire’s Franconia Notch region and the rolling hills of Corinth, Topsham and Groton. The summit of Tucker is part of two privately owned properties totaling 635 acres that could soon be purchased by the town and managed as a municipal forest under conservation easement. At a special town meeting at NES tonight, residents will vote on whether to approve a town contribution of $25,000 toward that the effort.
“That’s one of the reasons we thought this would be a great day for this, to bring awareness to that issue,” Lindsley said. “(Creating a town forest) is a great opportunity for Newbury.”
After Bradford Elementary School arrived — it departed 30 minutes after Newbury to avoid overcrowding — and lunch, Lindsley gathered the two schools together with a portable public address system.
“From Peru and South America to mountain villages and jungles across the world, people are coming together to celebrate this day just like us,” he said.
Ross then took the microphone to play a version of his song Holding Hands With Fire, modified to include references to world peace and Tucker Mountain. “Peace on Earth! Here we stand!” he sang during the number’s climactic finish, prompting a wave of applause.
Next came the Oxbow student speeches, beginning with senior Emily Carson. She spoke about three concepts she learned while studying the works of Martin Luther King Jr. and Ghandi. “Always speak the truth, live with love in your heart and have an understanding for the world around you and the people around you,” she said.
Junior Eliza Goodell recited the poem Let There Be Peace by Lemn Sissay before handing off to sophomore Keelan Durham.
Durham read from a prepared speech that drew supportive reaction from the audience. “If everyone treated each other with compassion and dignity, we could accomplish so much,” he said. “We could have avoided most of the wars in recent history. This might seem complicated. … (B)ut it is something that we learn in kindergarten: ‘Treat others the way you want to be treated.’ ”
Clearly moved by the presentations, Lindsley concluded the ceremony. “Wow, that gives us a lot to think about, and we’re running out of time — today, that is,” the principal said. “Let’s get to our peace symbol.”
Linking arms to span Tucker’s summit, the two schools formed the universal symbol of peace and were filmed and photographed by a drone flown by BMU eighth-graders Cameron Dennis and Hollis Munson.
After dispersing, the groups descended the mountain in much quicker time, arriving back at school by 2 p.m., appearing energized by the outing.
Lindsley hopes the International Day of Peace hike will now become a tradition between the two schools.
“It’s a unique experience to get two entire schools together, and imagine what we can do together, if we devote ourselves to peace,” Lindsley said. “Learning about peace is an important part of education because as a society, it has to be our goal. After seeing the tolls of all the wars we’ve been a part of, how could it not be?”
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.