Adam Compton is the Associate Head of School at New River Academy.  He holds a B.A. in Anthropology and an M.A. in History.  Thus, he teaches American Government, A.P. American Government, U.S. History, and Leadership at New River Academy.

He took up whitewater kayaking @8 years ago in San Marcos, Texas.  While he will always call Texas home, after many road trips, a couple of cars driven into the ground, and many hours of lamenting the lack of water in Texas, he figured the time had come to move closer to the water.  While searching for jobs in the Asheville, NC area, he chanced into the opportunity to work for New River Academy.  He leapt at the opportunity to combine his passions for teaching the social studies and kayaking.

This year he will travel with the students and other faculty to Chile, China, Canada, and several Appalachian states in the U.S.  Travel can be rigorous, but Adam grew up travelling regularly.  Thus, he often finds the "discomforts" of travel more comfortable than the comforts of home, especially since Brian of Comic Relief in San Marcos, TX keeps Adam's books coming to him through the mail when Adam is on the road.  In the spirit of travel, he orients this blog toward documenting the groups travel.  In the spirit of comic humor, the New River Gnome will show up dancing in many of Adam's pictures.  That's right, the gnome dances.

These classrooms are just so ugly. (C) Michelle Yates

We have made it back to W. Virginia where school rolls on to wrap up the first quarter.  The small classes here make it possible to do things that you just can't do with a larger traditional classroom.  I think the most noticeable differences are the sophistication and interest levels seen in the classes.  For example:

In physics, Shane Groves has been able to conduct experiments involving the 20ft ramp at Keenerville.   Physics is just a lot more fun when you see that 50 gallon drum launch off the end of the ramp.

Shane's math classes also sound pretty intense.  Whereas most math teachers feel they should have been dentists what with all the teeth they pull, I regularly hear Shane's students competing and arguing with one another over math problems.  I thought 2 plus 2 always equalled 4, but apparently there is something to argue about there.

Eleanor Perry has stepped in to fill the Spanish and Biology AP classes.  We have little post-its with pictures and spanish words on them all over the house these days.  I ran a tub of dish water just the other day, and three with different utensil names floated to the surface.  She is also working closely with her lone AP Biology student to cover some pretty sophisticated stuff.  Not too long ago, she showed us all this really cool video of what goes on in a cell.  It was a computer animation done to scale by the students at Harvard.  It's amazing what goes on in their.  An automotive assembly line has nothing on the functions of a cell if you ask me.

 Kyle Dinnel has his World Literature classes exploring the patterns of the epic.  They have read classical epics from various cultures, but also looked at contemporary movies to see how the same essential story has simply been recast.  I regularly hear his students discussing the work of Freud and Jung who believed that we tell the same stories because we are simply symbolizing the enduring universal human experiences of birth, death, love, hate, etc.  That's deep. 

My (Adam Compton) U.S. History and Government classes have been a blast.  We are able to cover so much more ground with two students in the largest classes.  The U.S. History class took a walk around Ohiopyle, PA a week ago where we stood on the same ground that Washington passed through immediately before dodging the first shots of the French and Indian War.  We also saw the remains of an early 20th century resort that emerged with the trains, and disappeared when the car gave patrons more places to choose from.  The entire history of American can be found in that one town.  Both the Government classes are trying to make sense of public opinion and media influences.  Rest assured these kids will not be easily duped by the talking heads when we're done here.

Kyle's photography and Tino Specht's video classes are also turning out some pretty sophisticated stuff.  Check out the student's blogs for photography, the website for some of the videos, and Tino's blogs for even more.  I am really impressed with what these guys do.  They seem to have no end of subjects or passion.

All in all, these kids are doing very well.  I have seen a lot of progress across the board.  We are sending some assignments home to get a little bit ahead before we take on the rigors of travel in China, but are also prepping lessons that will leverage the Chinese environment.

We moved out to Keenerville after a few weeks at Wilderness Tours. Keenerville is really a kayakers dream. We lost the hot tubs and dining hall, but picked up a kayak launch ramp and direct access to a couple of world class playspots on McCoy's Rapid and down at Garberator (what does that word mean anyways? Getting "garberated" does not sound fun, but the wave is a blast). "Kayak lanch ramp?" you say. That's right. A 20 ft wooden slide with the lip upturned such that it launches you in your boat about 6-8ft above the lip of the ramp. That gives you enough time to do blunts or even kick flips through the air, but sometimes you faceplant (I know exactly what the word means). No matter how I landed, I found that ramp more fun than I expected every time I went off. Compound that with hearing and seeing McCoy's rapid from the front porch while I teach my students about emergence of a revolutionary sentiment in the N American colonies (the British never should have shot Jefferson's dog), and I am in heaven. Wilderness Tours really did us well by putting us up at Keenerville.

We have also had a new faculty member join us. Eleanor Perry is doing great at taking over the Spanish and Science classes here at New River Academy. As the Associate Head, I am very excited to have her as she exhibits the puritan work ethic this job requires. I'm going to quit typing at y'all for now, and let the pictures tell the story.

Next: A wrong turn at Albequerque and the Gods provide in Ohiopyle.

 The office for a time (C) Adam Compton

 Gnoming the front yard (C) Adam Compton

 Still gnoming the front yard (C) Adam Compton

 The heater really works in this place (C) Adam Compton

 It's a long way to the water (C) Adam Compton

 God, is that you? (C) Adam Compton

Students showed up to WV three weeks ago. We ate dinner together, and then drove through the night to the Ottawa River on the Ontario Quebec border. Joe Kowalski of Wilderness Tours has graciously hosted our group in his resort compound, and now out at his Keener Village while we hold classes and paddle the Ottawa...some of these waves are big enough to peel eyelids back when you wipe out, but there is something for everybody on this river.

The resort is a wonderful facility where you can choose from camping on the lawn to a posh bed and breakfast, or a range of accomadations in between. Joe has a restaurant and bar on his property where we ate three delicious hot meals each day. Brenda and Sue really look out for you there, and keep the coffee strong. These Canadians don't mess around. I think the hot tubs were my favorite perk. Bring water and stand up slow when you get out. The pool is right below the tubs if you like to shock the system. I'm sure the jarring is somehow bad for the circulatory, but it feels good. Unfortunately, I stayed so busy getting school up and running at the resort, that I didn't get many pictures. You can refer to this link, Wilderness Tours, where Joe has prepared a world class website to give you all the info you need to plan your own trip. I take kayaking trips for a living, so I hope you appreciate when I say, the Ottawa and the WT resort respectively offer the highest quality of water and creature comforts. Keenerville, on the other hand, doesn't have the civilian creature comforts, but is a kyaker's dream spot with a world famous rapid within view from the porch and an @20ft. long kayak launch ramp for getting in the water...I swear that ramp is more fun than I expect it to be every time I go off it.

School busses.(C) Adam Compton

The neighborhood is a rough one.(C) Adam Compton

The halls are crowded, but we make sure everyone knows where to go.(C) Adam Compton

Another overcrowded class in a dilapidated room.(C) Adam Compton

No footballs, but these kids are tougher than most.(C)Adam Compton

Phyics class calls for crash helmets here.(C) Adam Compton

Coming soon: Report from Keenerville, and a friend joins us on the voyage.

 Adam Compton is the Assistant Head of School at New River Academy.  He holds a double-majored B.A. in History and Anthropology along with an M.A. in History qualifying him as the U.S. History, U.S. Government, A.P. U.S. Government, and Leadership teacher. 

Adam began kayaking 8 years ago in Texas.  As one might imagine, this meant many road trips for Adam.  After criss-crossing the country and driving multiple cars into the ground, Adam began looking for jobs in the Asheville, NC area.  When offered the opportunity to work for New River Academy, Adam leapt at the opportunity to combine his passions for travel, kayaking, and teaching the social studies. 

Many find the demands of travel quite rigorous.  However, Adam grew up travelling regularly.  Thus, he often finds the"discomforts" of travel more comfortable than the comforts of home, especially with Brian at Comic Relief in San Marcos, TX regularly shipping Adam's comics to him at a variety of locations.  Based on his love of travel and comic books, Adam has built this blog to document the groups travel experiences with a comic levity brought by the New River Gnome.