Celebrating Sexism Day

By Michayla Todd

For the first of this year’s semi-annual tradition of the ironically named Sexism Day, the girls enjoyed a peaceful day at the Cougar Hot Springs Reservoir.


Every year, typically twice a year, we split up; all guys and all girls, and we each agree on an activity that we can all enjoy, and use to bond with our community members of the same gender. This trip I was lucky to get to experience the beauty of the natural hot springs, set in the green forest of Willamette Valley.

The guys enjoyed a relaxing morning of video games and music, with a deluxe breakfast prepared by our very own Wellsprings Chefs, Bob and Tyler. They then grabbed a bus to see the new production of Zombieland. I can’t speak from personal experience, due to my being a female, but I have been told that they all enjoyed the day.

Now, I can speak for us girls. We had a great time! We were lucky enough to have the pools nearly all to ourselves, except for a couple of short time visitors. Quite a few of us, including myself, enjoyed a natural mud facial, and a few dare devils dunked in the freezing water before returning to the hot spring water. In my opinion though, the best, was the cave. There was a decent size opening in the rocks that fed the hot water down to the ladder of pools. A bunch of us girls were able to crawl up into the cave that it opened up to, where the heat was magnified so much, we could see steam lingering around us, but there was also a constant trickle of cold water which balanced the heat out wonderfully. It was probably just about one of the coolest things I have done in years.

I think that sexism day is definitely a fun and influential part of the Wellsprings experience. It is just another way that Wellsprings helps to become comfortable with your self as a part of a community. By partaking in these kinds of activities, it makes it easier for us all to develop a connection, or some kind of relationship with our classmates and teachers alike. I think that this is very important, and I feel like we all benefit a lot from these unique connections. I am looking forward to our next sexism event. I’m sure it will be a blast!

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Presentation on Homeless Youth By New Roads

Last week we had the pleasure of three visitors from the Looking Glass program, New Roads. New Roads is a center for at risk youth that offers a variety of services, for youth, ages 16-25. Some of things that New Roads offers are support in job searches, assistance in improving a living situation, case workers for homeless teens, personal counseling, drug and alcohol counseling and even a high school credit recovery program. This visit however was specifically focused on homelessness in youth.

Speaking from personal experience, being a teen runaway is not fun. I feel like a lot of our students at Wellsprings can also say that they have had that experience. I am sure we can all agree that programs and places like New Roads help a lot more than people might think. I can definitely say that I was fed by New Roads numerous times when I needed to be.

I think that the overall presentation went really well, and they definitely had an appropriate and appreciative audience. It is really important to have people like this in our community: dedication to the improvement of troubled teens lifestyles. I would like to thank New Roads for being willing to come and speak to us. I'm sure each of us got at least a little something out of it. I know that I did.

Written by Michayla Todd

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Squid Make Appearance in Science Class

This morning, teacher Eva's science class learned all about squid ... outside and in. Student's identified the exterior parts of the six squid ... from head to tail, eyes, funnel, tentacles ... and counted their pods. And no one could ignore the distinct smell that penetrated the room (and their human nostrils). Lots of conversation and questions during the class.

Here are a few photos taken before any cutting began.

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Creatures Invade Wellsprings on Halloween

Along with a vegetarian vampire, a diverse cast of other creatures appeared at school last Friday morning. Morning circle didn't quite look the same but silent meeting remained eerily silent (no blood-curdling screams or sounds from the ghosts and goblins in the circle).

Students enjoyed the morning baking cookies and carving pumpkins, then watched ever-so-horrible horror movies in the afternoon. Teachers Bob and Tyler once again manned the barbecue "pits," cooking burgers for lunch. All and all, another great Halloween at Wellsprings.

Take a look at some of our Halloween creatures (click on a photo to enlarge for better viewing).

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