TRAIL PIONEER

from Bell Tower Magazine
by Peter Hufnagel

Sometimes the best classroom is not a classroom. For Jay Drake, one of his favorite classes takes place in the seat of a Bobcat excavator deep in the woods of MSA’s 1,600-acre campus. He is currently completing a Land Management independent study, in which he is designing and building a 1.5 mile multipurpose trail from central campus to the school’s 12-acre lake. Operating an excavator, he works daily to sculpt a steep slope into a gently rolling trail. In the total absence of white boards, desks, books, and other items typically associated with schools, Jay has found a learning environment in which his next lesson is always just around the bend.