Some 80 students from Murray Middle School participated in the annual Wolf Ridge Environmental Center retreat in mid-November, making a journey to Finland, Minnesota that had them stepping outside in more ways than one.
The event was an opportunity for the students to learn about the outdoors over the weekend of November 16th to the 20th. Ann Bulger, a Murray staff member who passed away over 15 years ago, created the trip over 40 years ago for students to experience the outdoors and help make the Murray community stronger, said Timothy Chase, a current science teacher at Murray Middle School.
As the retreat came to an end, the staff recognized students Max Mills and Kim Sanchez for embracing the ideals and spirit of Bulger, Chase said. He noted, “Both {students}showed the awe and fascination of all that they experienced while at Wolf Ridge, from the beauty of the natural world, to the people that they met while on the retreat.”
Mills and Sanchez “willingly engaged in activities that were out of their comfort zone, quietly led by example, and were there for their classmates when they needed them.,” Chase said, “They willingly chose to engage with classmates who, although different from them, were more alike them than different.”
