by Ali & Bekka, Alums
We remember walking into Odyssey
the first day, slightly nervous, not knowing what
to expect, but knowing that we were embarking
on an adventure of a lifetime. An adventure that
would stay in our hearts forever.
We were the first two students
of Odyssey in the 1997-1998 school year. We took
a chance on a new school that was unknown, we
didn’t even know if there would be any other
students besides us, but we knew that we wanted
the community that Steve and Lee offered. Although
this sounds cheesy, the education and great experiences
they provided us will be something we’ll
never forget.
First and foremost, we’d
like to talk about the community at Odyssey. Almost
the second week of school, we were sent on a six-hour
bus ride to Ashland, Oregon and a camp called
JH Ranch. This trip was the start of a loving
community, one which brings friendships that continue
throughout lifetimes. Our trip began with the
bus ride; everyone was excited about the next
two weeks away from home. We remember sitting
in the back row of the bus, everyone singing at
the top of their lungs any song that came to their
mind, free of judgment, just good old-fashioned
fun. These few hours were just the first of a
year of great memories.
 During
this first trip to camp and Ashland, we did a
number of community-building and trust exercises
which brought us closer together as a class, as
friends, and as a community. The Odyssey community
was like a family, because it was small, everyone
got all of the personal attention that they needed,
problems were always resolved, there was never
any social status that made people “cooler”
than other people, everyone was friends with everyone
else. When we were at Odyssey, every day was better
then the last, having the trust and respect of
your teachers also really enabled the community
to stay strong. The teachers were there for each
one of us from day one. They were supportive of
each individual’s needs, extra curricular
activities, and helped us to work out any problems
in our schedule or homework.
Which brings us to our next topic,
homework, the dreaded H-word. We’re not
going to lie and say that Odyssey was a breeze
and we flew right through it with flying colors.
It was a challenge. But the challenge was one
of Odyssey’s main goals. It prepared us
for our future lives, like high school. Odyssey’s
fashion of teaching was unique in the sense that
it challenged us to push ourselves, while giving
us the knowledge to use creativity in learning.
If we ever felt overwhelmed, we could simply go
and talk to any of the teachers, and they would
help us work around it. But don’t get us
wrong, Odyssey wasn’t all work and no play,
there was plenty of fun to balance the work load.
For example, the movement classes. If we weren’t
jazzercising in Aerobics class with Lisa at 8
in the morning, we were lunging at our classmate’s
with swords in Jonathan and Richard’s Stage
Combat class, or learning to harness our inner
Chi with Arthur in Tai Chi class. Every morning
we had a different activity in store for us.
There was even swimming when
the weather was warm enough because right down
the street there is a park and gym that we were
able to use. We made it our habit at lunch time
to go down to the park together, running as fast
as we could to see who got the swings first. Not
only did we spend all of our school time together,
almost every weekend, and after school on Friday’s,
we wound up together, because all of us were best
friends. Some of our fondest memories were taking
the train on Friday’s after school to the
Hillsdale Cinema and seeing movies like “Spice
Girls.” We remember, that weekend, calling
all the girls in our class trying to decide which
of us was which Spice Girl. That Monday, to teachers’
surprise, all of us came in costume. None of us
were embarrassed to dress crazy, because there
was no pressure to be a certain way, we were all
accepted for who we were. I know it’s hard
to believe that a group of 20 thirteen and fourteen
year olds could all get along and like each other
without fighting, but Odyssey created an environment
where there was nothing that needed to be fought
about.
Now that we’re in high
school, looking back on Odyssey, we see how lucky
we were to have such a place. Academically, Odyssey
prepared us for high school because it taught
us the skills of time management, note taking,
and studying that are beneficial in high school.
Socially, the change from middle school to high
school was easy because Odyssey taught us how
to be ourselves and not be judgmental. Although
we still look back and know that we have friends
for life, including the teachers, still, two years
later, after one of us received our drivers license,
the first person we went to see was Steve. We
wanted him to see how we’re growing up,
bet we’ll never forget our time at Odyssey.
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