Adventures in nature are the strongest glue that holds people together. The survivalist thrill of living for weeks on end in the backcountry is exhausting yet exhilarating. With nothing but the clothes on your back and the food in your pack, you quickly become immersed into your surroundings. The National Outdoor Leadership School uses this same fundamental principle of cohesion under stress to bring groups of kids as young as 14 and adult instructors together. They send out dozens of annual trips all around the world, teaching students a variety of skills from backpacking the Indian Himalayan mountains to sea-kayaking the Alaskan coastal waters. This program, also known as NOLS, is a leader in wilderness experiential education. It not only trains its students in backcountry survival and medical expertise, but also develops their leadership skills. NOLS believes that the challenges and difficulties only found in the wilderness are the best teaching situations in which to learn and develop relationships with fellow students and instructors.
The wilderness of the Adirondacks is just the type of backcountry experience NOLS looks for in a program site. While thousands of groups visit the Adirondack park every year, NOLS is one of the only programs that incorporates outdoor education into adventure within the park. This two week trip teaches high school students about the public policy that shapes and preserves the wilderness of the Adirondacks. While most courses venture into distant national parks around the world, the program in the Adirondacks is the only NOLS course located close to residential areas. However, this is just the nature of the park and the main benefit to studying the area. Though this course does not have the same "backcountry" feel of, say, the Patagonian outback, it does offer the most unique learning environment. The Adirondacks are a place where humans and nature intermingle, and it is in this transition zone that we learn how effective our current environmental policy and conservation efforts truly are. I fully believe it is just as important to teach high school students about stewardship as it is to experience the wilderness, and NOLS has found the perfect place to do so.
Sources:
http://www.nols.edu/
Anne, reading your thoughts on the leadership and educational outcomes of a NOLS trip reminded me of a trail building/repair trip I did one summer in the White Mountains while in High School. The trip was run by the Appalachian Mountain Club, and focused on teaching the 6 students on the trip how to properly build trails (my group focused on bridges), and wilderness leadership skills. Although this was an extremely physically demanding trip (I was not exactly the strongest 16-year-old in the world), I learned more than I ever thought possible about building trails, and enjoyed bonding with the other students on the trip. I am a strong proponent of the outdoor education programs run by organizations such as NOLS and AMC, and I hope that one day this type of experience can be intertwined with the US public educational systems.
ReplyDeleteActually, Maryland and many other states have tried to incorporate outdoor education pretty heavily into the public and private educational systems. While it's not an official state policy in Maryland, there is a national movement called "No Child Left Inside" that encourages the advancement of environmental literacy in all students. It was proposed to the House of Representatives in 2009 as an amendment to an act from 1965 regarding environmental education. Through an outdoor education center near my home, this movement introduced me to environmental conservation and outdoor recreation. I agree with you that experiential education is incorporating these programs such as the one I attended and NOLS into kids lives early is incredibly important in helping them develop a respect for the natural world around them.
ReplyDeleteWork Cited:
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/111/s866/text