The students on the international trip have returned safe and sound. They are recovering from jet lag and reintegrating into the Dragonfly community. The international trip was not the only happening over the last month, those students who remained behind were having all kinds of backyard adventures of their own.

Equine Group

At the Homestead a group of students participated in a team building exercise with Sara. They were asked to maneuver the horses and donkeys through pre-set obstacles while following some rules:

• No communication between students
• No intimidating the animals
• No tricking the animals
• No touching the animals
• No throwing things.

At the end, the students painted the sides of the horses, they were asked to paint what they felt were barriers to a “big life aspiration”.

Weekends at Dragonfly

Saturday is a long awaited day of recreation that can serve many purposes. It is rejuvenating for the students who had a tough week, challenging for those mastering a new skill and enjoyable for those who want to spend time with friends.

Students can start their day by perusing the local Farmer’s Market for fresh fruits and veggies. In the summer, a lot of time is spent at local events, parks, lakes and more. Recently students have ventured on hikes and enjoyed views of Klamath Lake from a new vantage point. They also cooled off at the city pool with much splashing around or taking a go at the water slide. There is also an occasional trip to the movies!

Below are some more special events.

The Kinetic Challenge

Every year Klamath Falls hosts “The Kinetic Challenge“.  This is a contest that has contestants from many of the surrounding areas including California and other cities in Oregon. The contestants create “sculptures” that use Kinetics to traverse through different obstacles. This year the obstacles included 4 water crossings, a sand pit crossing, a mud crossing, and “racing” through town. Our students volunteered as “Kinetic Kops”.  Their job was to make sure the contestants followed the rules. They were also “Timers”, they helped score the contestants for awards. They also volunteered as art judges for the skits that the contestants did at the beginning of the challenge.

From one of the organizers…

Ever the dutiful daughter of Klamath, I’d like to extend sincere thanks for your efforts in making the 10th Klamath Kinetic Challenge a success. You are truly appreciated and make the community a better place for all you do.

– Valeree Lane

Klamath Kruise

What did the rest of the community do that day? They spent a sunny afternoon wandering around Moore Park taking in the annual “Klamath Kruise”!

It was a buster year at the Kruise. Cars and people came from as far away as San Francisco, Reno, Portland and everywhere in between to show their beautiful cars and take in everyone else’s. Students enjoyed strolling past 200 classic cars. Some of the men were blown away at the vehicles and enjoyed looking at the 1957 Cobras, Mach 1 Mustangs, a 1957 Corvette, and Dodge Viper to name a few. We compared interiors, joked about purchasing one in the future, and asking the owners lots of questions.

“I think when I’m done with Dragonfly I’ll purchase this car with my D-fly savings!” – Chris

Independence Day

We celebrated the 4th of July with a backyard BBQ, music, and games at the boarding house. After the BBQ, we headed downtown to see the local parade and jamboree, and we finished off the night watching fireworks over the lake. It was a great to day to celebrate together. The students also enjoyed watching the world cup and harvesting veggies for tomorrow’s farmer’s market in the morning.

More to come!