Final Day! April 9, 2024

 Yawn...we woke up early this morning, some of us at 4:30 am. We were to meet back at the church by 5:30 so we could load the bus and hit the road a little before 6 am. We experienced a few challenges this morning as we were gathering. There were a couple of personal items left behind at a host's house we had to ask them to bring us and then 3 of the guys were involved in a minor accident when their host missed a road and attempted a U-turn and ended up in the ditch. Thankfully, there were no injuries and we were able to have another host pick them up promptly. It did leave those 3 young men shaken up a bit though, coasting down into a ditch, not sure where/how they would stop. 

We hit the road though, on schedule and arrived at The Mount Academy a little before 10. We did a quick set up in and incredible cathedral chapel. The school was previously a Catholic seminary and purchased by the Bruderhof in 2012 for the education of their high school students. Their 400-acre campus sits on the Hudson River and includes an multi-story library, theatre, chapel, dormitories, classrooms and ou, tdoor technical education space. 

We were struggling with sickness (stomach/fever/coughing) and lost a few students as the program progressed. Thankfully, we still had all of our parts and were able to complete the program. The students we spoke with told us they really enjoyed the choir. They said that their choir is not so good yet, but they have a pretty strong orchestra program and performing arts electives. 

We are now headed home with under 2 hours to go. Here are a few more pictures from our day. 

M.A.T. 2024 is in the books!

Group photo in front of the school. 

The front of the school...where our group photo was taken. 

The chapel where we sang

Jay Stoltzfus, our incredible bus driver.

The library at The Mount Academy. Above this library ceiling yet is a two-story 300-seat theatre.

Their high school teams have been competing well, winning a few state competitions. Their robotic program is ranked 4th in the world. Drama, mock trials, band and orchestra are also electives offered to students. 

Front entrance

Visiting a 9th grade English Classroom.

A View of the Hudson River from the front of the school.

The back of the school. 

Visiting the machine shop. 

A shot of the 400 acre campus

Let's head home!

One last supper stop -- a Wendy's with smiling, cheerful employees, clean floors and bathrooms and service that was impeccably fast -- some were hardly done putting their credit card away and their food was waiting on them!

It's been a wonderful tour and we had a time of sharing on the way home, reflecting on the ways that God has been with us and answered our prayers. So grateful to Ephrata Mennonite School for the support and resources they made possible for us to do this tour and be gone for 6 days.