Mayfield tradition continues

By KAYLEIGH KARUTIS, The Leader-Herald
MAYFIELD — A group of about 70 fifth-graders, 20 chaperones and four teachers left Mayfield Elementary School Wednesday morning for a three-day Adirondack wilderness trip that has been a tradition at the school for 30 years.

The group boarded school district buses to embark on the trip to the Pok-O-MacCready Summer Camps, a children’s outdoor wilderness camp tucked between towering peaks and sheer rock cliffs in Willsboro, Essex County, just south of Plattsburgh.

The annual trip began when fifth-grade teacher Jennifer Shadd-Derby initiated it during her first years as a teacher in the district. Pupils pay a tuition fee to the camp and are shuttled there for a three-day stay, engaging in activities ranging from hiking to boating to group confidence boosters.

Pupils and teachers have a fundraiser at the beginning of each school year to raise money for the trip, said fifth-grade teacher Carol Hoose, who went on the trip this year.

Nearly every fifth-grader in the school is attending this year’s outing, and it’s an experience that leaves a lasting impression, she said.

“The kind of feedback we get is former students asking if they can chaperone so they can go again,” she said. “It’s always mentioned at the high school graduation.”

Children have the opportunity to earn a “Pok-O Patch” if they hike four mountains during their stay, Hoose said. They visit a local 1812 homestead to get a glimpse of Colonial life, which Hoose said applies directly to what they are learning in class.

“They do all kinds of neat stuff,” Hoose said.

Shadd-Derby, who organized the first trip 30 years ago, continues to go on the trips, Hoose said.

“The rest of us [teachers] just joined in,” she said.

Pok-O-MacCready camps are family-owned and are located on Long Pond near Plattsburgh. The camp is close to Pok-O-Moonshine mountain, a popular hiking and rock-climbing destination. Camp participants swim, hike, rock-climb, camp, and engage in a variety of art- and nature-related classes during their stay.

Participants from Mayfield Elementary School stay in the camp’s cabins during their trip. They will return Friday evening.

“Students always talk about it,” she said. “Every year we have a whole list of parents and volunteers who want to come.”

It’s a major tradition in our school,” she said.



Kayleigh Karutis covers rural Fulton County. She can be reached at ruralnews@leaderherald.com.