“My experience at The Outdoor Academy has made me a stronger, more confident, more independent individual.  It has taught me countless lessons about how to live within community, and the responsibilities that community membership entails.  OA has opened doors for me and allowed me to explore all the possibilities my life holds.”

-- Alex Hartley, Semester 17   

Making Music Together

When I talk with folks about The Outdoor Academy and am asked what sets OA apart from other schools, I reflect on students like Alex Hartley. Alex came to OA a curious, ambitious teen, and left an impassioned, autonomous leader. She illustrates how OA can be a unique rite of passage experience for its students—an experience so rare and valuable that it should be considered by every curious and ambitious high school sophomore.

OA is an opportunity for tenth graders to engage with a unique kind of academic rigor, which integrates creative and critical thinking, calls for attuned communication skills, and demands a respect for diversity of thought. Leadership is the cornerstone of the experience—our students train for environmental and social leadership so they can become part of the solution to contemporary challenges. OA serves to differentiate and distinguish students from their peers at large. Those who attend OA demonstrate that they are ambitious and ready to realize their greatest potential at an exceptionally young age.

Sometimes I am asked specifically why students should consider stepping out of their normal routine during tenth grade. I explain that OA is intentionally designed for high school sophomores; it is meant to ignite personal and academic self-determination at a critical moment in the high school progression. OA provides preparation for the culminating years of high school and the ensuing college experience.

By its nature, OA can be a powerful, transformative experience. Time away from home and one’s normal school routine provides positive perspective and appreciation for all that encompasses home. It also allows time and space for students to reflect on their personal values, beliefs, and ethics, in an open and tolerant environment. We recognize that identity formation is a key feature of this developmental period, and therefore we present a wonderfully supportive social and intellectual venue for students to interact, grow, and bring forth their inner-voice. Highly interactive seminar classes require an exceptional level of personal engagement with the academic material, and community life allows for abundant, deeply meaningful friendships. Faculty and staff members are present throughout the day and evening to foster a climate of mutual respect and collegial engagement, based on the common purpose of advancing our understanding of one another and the world we encounter.     

Working for a Strong Community

Curiosity and reflection can establish a foundation for the OA experience, but a commitment to work must follow to bring that curiosity to fruition. At OA, we hold that “work is love made visible,” as stated by the early 20^th century Lebanese philosopher-poet, Khalil Gibran. In program, we seek to subvert the paradigm that work is inherently burdensome. What results in students is a genuine and abiding positive work ethic that can manifest in a range of activities, whether splitting firewood, revising an essay, learning to play a new instrument, or studying for a math exam.

At OA, we prize community and the opportunities that community life provides for cultivating self-knowledge. Students here come to realize—through experience—that their power to live well and effect positive change is multiplied when they collaborate with others. Each student comes to learn how important his/her contribution is and what a difference mutual support can make. Individually and collectively, we do a lot of work in the space where individual and community interests come into contact.

One final, essential ingredient in the OA rite of passage is our natural setting.  The 200 acre campus and nearby wilderness areas help to place human activities into a broader context. Throughout the semester, we work to extend our community ethic to the natural systems and resources that are found on campus, within our locale, and throughout the natural world. The environment is what links us to something greater than ourselves, and it offers a special kind of enhancement to our life experience. Our outdoor classes and ventures provide heightened sensory experiences, greater space for reflection, and uncommonly meaningful insight. The natural world and the other dimensions of the OA semester make possible an individualized rite of passage experience for each student—an experience that will help shape and inform all that lies ahead, and beyond the next horizon.

Next: Instilling a Family Tradition of Giving