THE OUTDOOR ACADEMY OF THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS: EXPERIENTIAL OUTDOOR EDUCATION FOR TENTH GRADERS

The Outdoor Academy of the Southern Appalachians is a semester long college preparatory school for tenth graders. It provides hands-on outdoor education and gives students the opportunity to create a deep connection to nature and lasting relationships with a close-knit community of 35 students and 17 faculty. Through an interactive approach to education, an exploration of the natural world and a strong sense of community, students gain a new sense of respect for the environment, for others, and for themselves.

The school combines regular college preparatory classes, such as math, foreign language, and history, with classes that concentrate on learning from and with the environment. These include a natural history course that focuses on the local land and ecology, and is generally taught in the field, an English class that includes reading distinguished nature and regional writers, and an Appalachian history class. For example the granite the students learn about in their natural history course during the week they get an even better feel for as they climb on it during their weekend excursion. These field trips are part of an outdoor leadership course, which is taught throughout the semester. Highlights of the outdoor education and leadership experience include two week-long backpacking trips, a climbing weekend, a rafting weekend, and a caving expedition.

The students are from a variety of backgrounds, including urban and rural settings, public and private schools, and local and international families. While they have incredibly diverse backgrounds and interests, they are highly motivated, intellectually curious students who seek academic exploration beyond the classroom.

To illustrate the success of this school, one only need look as far as the many alumni, who are no older than 28, since the school began in the fall of 1995. Many of the school's alumni are actively involved in outdoor education, as well as geology, and say that their experience at the Outdoor Academy has had a shaping impact on their current livelihoods. Alumni are currently running a sustainable organic farm in Maine, teaching English in Japan, participating in the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic, earning a PhD in geology, and one is even the English teacher at the Outdoor Academy.

http://www.enf.org/oa/