LOS OLIVIOS, CA - OCTOBER 21, 2016:
Sophomore Emily Cummings, 15, chopped wood she helped to collect over the weekend for the fires that will heat her grade's afternoon shower. Grabbing a huge pile of the newly chopped wood, Cummings carries it to the water heater to build a fire. The Midland School, a place-based college prep boarding school in Los Olivos, Calif., has built the teachings of wants vs. needs into the very center of their curriculum. Basic needs like electricity, hot water and food are a big part of the kids responsibilities. In order to have hot water for their showers, the kids have to collect wood, chop it and build fires each day in water heaters that each grade has for its showers.
(Melissa Lyttle for The New York Times)