Trading the hustle and bustle of the Upper East Side for the quiet foothills of the Berkshire Mountains, students dove head-first into workshops in the glassblowing studio, Batik studio, woodshop, and garden. The student cohort consisted of 9th, 11th, and 12th graders whose individual interests ranged from engineering to arts. Regardless of any experience they had going into the 2-day trip, each student (and faculty!) left Buck’s Rock with a newfound love for the art of blowing glass, Shibori dyeing, woodworking, and gardening. 

In the glassblowing studio, instructors led students in hands-on workshops to take red-hot molten glass and turn it into flowers and paperweights. The artists then demonstrated their professional skills and created a robot made entirely out of glass in honor of the Dalton Robotics Team! 

In the Batik studio, students learned about the art of Shibori, an ancient Japanese resist dye process using pressure to create patterns on fabric. Students folded, tied, sewed, and wrapped white fabric with string and wooden boards before submerging them in indigo ink. When the fabric dried and was unwrapped, it revealed beautiful blue and white patterns. 

For their wood workshop, students created a wood bench using recycled wood palettes. It was a process of trial and error as they worked to fit pieces together to create a sturdy bench that could hold the weight of two people. They then carved their names into the seat and painted it Dalton blue. 

In the garden, students helped prepare the vegetable garden for the summer. They dug trenches and planted potatoes, corn, herbs, and flowers that will be harvested and eaten this summer by campers! 

Buck’s Rock’s relationship with Dalton far predates this trip — it traces back to the 1940s, when Helen Parkhurst founded Buck’s Rock School, originally designed to be a place for students to escape to during the war in the event that New York City was targeted by firebombing. A year later, Ernst and Ilse Bulova took over for Parkhurst, and Buck’s Rock School became Buck’s Rock Work Camp. As a work camp, Buck’s Rock provided adolescents the opportunity to serve their community through farming and machine repair. Eventually, this became Buck’s Rock Creative & Performing Arts Camp in its current form, a Montessori-inspired environment where campers are encouraged to create their own schedule and exercise independence. Its very existence is complementary to The Dalton Plan, as bunks can be compared to Houses, projects to Assignments, and the camp’s 1:2 counselor-to-camper ratio allows for mentorships and Labs.