City Kids Under the Stars: A Fourth Grade Journey at Ashokan
“I don’t think I’ve ever really seen stars before.”
That’s what one Brooklyn fourth grader whispered to their friend under the crisp October sky at the Ashokan Center. It was 6:00 a.m. The air was soft and still, the stars countless and clear, and 66 wide-eyed city kids were waking up to their final morning in the Catskills.
Every fall, students from The Packer Collegiate Institute journey north to spend three days living, learning, and laughing at the Ashokan Center. This year’s visit, led by teacher Tim Jensen, captured everything Ashokan was built for—connection to nature, curiosity, teamwork, and joy in discovery.
Day One: Eyes to the Sky and Feet on the Trail
From the moment the buses pulled in, adventure began. Students stepped out into a world of forest trails, running creeks, and bright autumn leaves—a world far removed from city traffic and skyscrapers. 
Tim shared with parents that first morning:
“The dark sky is filled with stars in all directions and no visible clouds. Only trees, of which there are many, block the view.”
That sense of wonder carried through the day. Students learned how altitude affects flight, how far away satellites orbit, and how fast shooting stars travel. Later, they’d use that data to make bar graphs back in Brooklyn—learning science not from a screen, but from the night sky itself.
Learning by Doing (and Getting a Little Muddy)
The Ashokan program is built around immersive, hands-on experiences that mix natural science, history, and creative play. Throughout the week, students rotated through activities that engaged their senses and stretched their imaginations:
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Apple Cidering: Turning the crank of an old-fashioned press, watching fresh cider drip into a bucket, and sipping it warm from a wood-burning stove. The leftover apples became crisp, baked with oats and
sugar, then devoured by their proud makers.
“Apples are crushed and pressed… to be heated on a wood-burning stove and sipped… and DEVOURED by the creators,” Tim wrote. -
The Gorge Hike: A two-mile walk through the forest, across a 130-year-old covered bridge, past the ruins of an old water mill, and down to a glacial gorge. Even when the waterfall was “an 80-foot trickle,” students were awed by the land’s history and beauty.
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Ye Olde Schoolhouse: In this living-history adventure, students stepped into the shoes of 19th-century children under the watchful eye of a strict (and very convincing) schoolmaster. Laughter filled the room as mock punishments were handed out, notes were discovered, and a broom-wielding teacher gave chase.
sugar, then devoured by their proud makers.
The Gorge Hike: A two-mile walk through the forest, across a 130-year-old covered bridge, past the ruins of an old water mill, and down to a glacial gorge. Even when the waterfall was “an 80-foot trickle,” students were awed by the land’s history and beauty.Lessons Beyond the Classroom
Ashokan isn’t just about facts—it’s about values. Each meal became a lesson in sustainability and community. Students took turns helping on the cleanup crew, weighing food waste after every meal.
The goal? Zero waste.
The reward? Getting to sign a wooden canoe paddle for display in Ashokan’s dining hall.
“If Packer’s Fourth Grade ever accomplishes the almost unimaginable ‘zero’ waste after a meal this week, every student will be allowed to write their name on a wooden canoe paddle… It has been quite a while since this last happened,” Tim explained.
By the end of the trip, the students had cut their waste nearly in half—and gained a powerful understanding of how small actions make a big difference.
Night Hike and Campfire Magic
As darkness fell, flashlights were banned and senses sharpened. The Night Hike led each group deep into the forest, where they learned to rely on hearing instead of sight and watched Wint-O-Green Lifesavers spark in the dark—a bit of bioluminescent magic they’ll never forget.
“Quiet was encouraged to maximize sensory enjoyment of the stars above and the flora and fauna on the ground,” Tim wrote.
The final night brought everyone together around a glowing campfire. Songs echoed through the woods, s’mores roasted to perfection, and laughter rose into the clear Catskill sky. Students performed their favorite songs “astronaut-style,” “underwater-style,” and “at deafening volume style.” It was the perfect finale.
A Lesson That Lasts
When morning came, the bunkhouses were a flurry of packing, organizing, and (mostly) finding lost socks. Tim described it with a wink:
“The Ashokan staff manages every year to get 66 nine- and ten-year-olds to pack themselves spontaneously… in bunkhouses that looked last night like the Collyer brothers’ Manhattan living room, or the aftermath of a tsunami.”
Before boarding the buses back to Brooklyn, students reflected on everything they’d seen and learned—the forests, the teamwork, the stars, and the simple joy of being unplugged and outside.
Tim closed his final note with a reflection that says it all:
“Every year I’m conscious of the major expectational weight of this Fourth Grade trip… Can the trip possibly be as good as they hope it will be? Remarkably, the answer is yes, year after year. This is substantially attributable to the beauty of Ashokan’s protected wilderness ‘classroom’ in the Catskills… and the rich and well-run program the Ashokan staff put together without fail.”
A Classroom Without Walls
The Packer students returned home taller, muddier, and maybe just a little wiser. They’d experienced something rare—a few days of wonder in a world where learning happens not from books, but fromlife itself.
As Tim summed it up:
“We hope they feel a heightened sense of urgency to work on environmental initiatives to save places like Ashokan for the future.”
And that’s the Ashokan difference: once you’ve felt the night sky above the Catskills, it’s impossible not to care a little more deeply about the world beneath it.