By Samara Kinyanjui’27
Enjoying the simple pleasures of winter is an opportunity the Frederick Gunn School takes advantage of every year, a way the school does this is with a newly created event, Mountain Day. A treat the students from grades 10-12 look forward to at the end of January. This 2024-2025 school year, Mountain Day took place on January 27th.
Mountain Day is a day where grades 10-12, including faculty, head up to Mohawk Mountain and partake in activities like skiing, snowboarding, and even tubing. Even though a normal school day will follow mountain day, students are expected to spend the day not worrying about classes, athletics, and schoolwork. Multiple students can attest to the fact that when they spend multiple hours on the mountain with their peers, it positively affects their well being. Furthermore, Mountain Day is carefully planned between DOS and Gunn Outdoors, so leading up to Mountain Day the faculty constantly work together. School meeting announcements, school-wide emails, and even personal reminders help garner excitement for the event. In addition, Mountain Day is a tradition the school will continue to implement.
Traditions continue to prove their importance in the Frederick Gunn community. However, Mountain Day is fairly new and may not be considered a proper tradition compared to the All School Walk or Convocation. The school does a great job of constantly celebrating and respecting traditions as the community changes and grows every year. The school’s founder, Frederick Gunn, believed that developing well-rounded students would help them create a positive impact on society. Mountain Day continues to benefit our community because it allows students to try new things and even hone their skills. For example, students that have maybe never skied or snowboarded before are allowed to take lessons and that allows for the experienced students to lend a helping hand to their peers.
Lilla Trotta ’27 shared this insight on her first Mountain Day experience. “I loved being outdoors and getting a break from class to ski. It let me get some fresh air and enjoy the beautiful mountain. I also got to give pointers to one of my friends on how to ski and I still had enough time to go down the mountain with other friends and teachers. Mountain Day exceeded my expectations, the weather was great, and spending an entire day skiing with my friends was an amazing experience. I can not wait for what next year brings!”
