Boots on the Ground: Outdoor Experiences Build Character and Complement the Curriculum

Hiking boots. Heavy wool socks. Rain gear. Brimmed hat. The gear list for SCH Academy’s 9th graders is as rugged as the five-day Outward Bound expedition that awaits them each August. But one item is conspicuously absent: the cell phone.

“When they’re outside doing a team-building activity together,” says Head of Middle School Meadow Pepino of students on group trips in Middle School and beyond, “they are relying on good old-fashioned communication skills: looking each other in the eye, reading each other's facial expressions, and having collaborative conversations to work through challenges.”

Thanks to its location, where the city meets the woods, outdoor experiences have been a valued highlight in the CHA, Springside, and SCH community for generations. Alumni have fond memories of orienteering trips and hikes in the Wissahickon. In more recent years, group trips based in nature have expanded; they are intended to bring students together in Middle and Upper School, tightening bonds among students, the wider community, and nature itself. In Lower School, students take part in an Outdoor Program in which they explore the woods on foot and bike, sometimes with their families by their side, and they explore nature from a scientist’s perspective through the Science Outdoors program.

At SCH, seemingly simple walks in the woods can transform into lessons on microbiology, while a curricular lesson on bird calls can spark a lifelong passion. From Pre-K onward, students are introduced to curricular and extracurricular outdoor experiences that foster teamwork, resilience, a love of learning, and stewardship of the land. While outdoor education is not SCH’s primary focus, faculty, and administrators have long explored the rich connections between the natural world and academic pursuits, all with an emphasis on effecting positive change.

“Nature stirring our senses and generating awe and wonder is a profoundly generous gift,” wrote Head of School Delvin Dinkins in the front of this magazine. “Jonathan Haidt, in The Anxious Generation, has much to say about nature, that is, the changing nature of the American childhood and adolescence. Youth should be a natural time for discovery, challenges, and risks, essentials for healthy growth and maturity.”

Continue reading this feature in the fall 2024 issue of SCHool magazine.