Another Wonderful Blue Ridge Day!

What an incredible Blue Ridge Day! The weather could not have been more perfect, the leaves were rustling and starting to take color, and spirits were high on Wednesday as students and staff took off on their Blue Ridge Day hikes. The Middle School took on the Monticello trails, walking and bussing from Tandem across the MHS and PVCC campuses, crossing Rt. 20 (with police help) to get to the trail system. Once at the main trail, groups divided into hikes of varying length and level of challenge. Some ate lunch in the Monticello picnic area and others returned to Tandem for lunch and a movie. Upper Schoolers headed to nearby Walnut Creek, where there are trails and a park to enjoy, going on hikes of varying length, and enjoying lunch and a Meeting for Worship together. By 1:30pm, everyone had returned to campus to find fire pits blazing, s'mores makings at the ready, trail mix ingredients to combine, and lots of cider and water. There were plenty of s'mores made, some roasted to golden perfection and others plunged straight into the fire to create a marshmallow inferno. By 2:30, the whole community migrated to the quad for an amazing open mic, emceed by seniors Kavi and Hudson. There were vocal solos (Alex D, Will M, Georgia C, Lilly Y, Gabriel S, Hattie H, Marlow K), acoustic duos (Raquel & Iris; Zella & Seth), and great group numbers (Mark/Jude/Sydney; the house band - Van/Jude/Jack/Hayes/Nati; Gabriel/Will/Luna/John; Willa/Ellie/Annie. Many thanks to the Tandem faculty and staff for planning and chaperoning a great day and to Parent Community volunteers for donating tasty ingredients, and setting up, serving and cleaning up the s'mores, trail mix and cider. It really was a perfect day spent in nature and in community. What a wonderful Tandem tradition! Check out many photos of the day.