A Joyful Tradition: Rowboat Launch at Hardon Pond
One of the lesser-known highlights of the late spring at New Canaan Country School is the launch of rowboats on Hardon Pond. Each year, eighth and ninth graders in Mr. Lawler’s Boat Building woodshop elective design and build wooden rowboats which, on a particularly beautiful spring day, they cart across Frogtown Road for a celebratory christening and launch on the placid pond. The group manages the event with the appropriate level of ceremony: they don straw hats, sing songs and adorn the bow of the boats with a bouquet of peonies and blue false indigo, freshly clipped from the Lower School Wellness Garden.
Students take turns in groups of two or three, rowing the boats around the pond, while on shore an energetic group awaits their turn, hooting and hollering cheers of success. As time progresses, the boats begin to fill with water through the seams that have not yet had the luxury of time to expand and create a watertight seal. This, of course, only adds to the fun as the dedicated rowers take to bailing out the boat in a chaotic fashion where everyone ends up wet. Eventually, as the end of the class period approaches, they haul the boats out of the pond, collect their gear and put shoes back on for the journey back to school and dry land.
The entire experience takes about 30 minutes, but it is the culmination of so much more. It is the opportunity for students to come together with a common goal and work through the challenges of creating something from nothing. An idea, plans, supplies, hard work, problem solving, collaboration, partnership and determination are all afloat on this beautiful spring morning. As teachers, we can take pride in the fact that we have shepherded students through a valuable educational experience completely reflective of our program and mission. For students, it is all about the joys of life, laughter, friendship and horseplay. A full boat indeed!
New Canaan Country School
New Canaan Country School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin and are afforded all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry, or disability in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, financial aid policies or any other school-administered programs.
