OBJECTIVES
1. Foster personal growth through wilderness experiences that challenge students to reach beyond their comfort zones.
2. Build and strengthen the student faculty relationships that are so unique to our school and integral to meaningful teaching and learning in the classroom.

3.Provide opportunities for students to build an understanding and relationship with wild places that will enrich them throughout their lives.

4. Teach the core skills necessary to be competent in wilderness environments. (We teach the core skills that make sense within the context of each trip)

    * Expedition planning
    * Self-care
    * Risk Management
    * Care of equipment
    * Map skills
    * The ABC’s of Packs
    * Backcountry cooking
    * Camp selection, set up and bomb proofing
    * Sanitation
    * Expedition Behavior, Teamwork and Leadership
    * Leave No Trace ethics—the art of low impact wilderness travel.

Ways in Which We Teach in the Outdoor Program
Direct teaching:  Many things such as learning how to light a stove or conduct an avalanche beacon search lend themselves well to direct teaching. Direct teaching of key skills is often a starting point for adventure.

Experiential:  Constructing experiences that teach.  Few things teach as effectively as doing.   Often the most effective teacher with the most profound message is the environment. Modeling:  Walking the walk.  Living the way you want others to live, and doing things the way you want others to do them is a powerful message.

Teachable moments: Using unplanned situations for impromptu lessons.  Leadership moments, teamwork moments, natural history moments, risk managements moments—the list is long and the learning meaningful. 

Reflections/debriefs:  All outdoor trips meet twice a day to discuss what went well, what went poorly and how improvements can be made.  Written reflections are also part of many trips.

Readings and Stories:  Selected readings and personal stories are time honored ways to pass knowledge along.

Students teaching:  If you really want to learn something try teaching it.  Students often have teaching duties on outdoor trips.