One of the most unique attributes of an Explorer West Middle School education is our Outdoor Education Program. It provides our students with some of the most important experiences of their young lives outside of the classroom and provides opportunities to connect in spectacular ways with their peers, their teachers, and their outdoor community.
Students participate in a progressively challenging curriculum that starts in 6th grade with an introduction to the outdoors while camping at Fort Worden State Park, extends to winter snowshoeing and cross country skiing, and culminates in 8th grade with a challenging 20+ mile backpack trip along the Olympic Coast.
The program's focus builds on skills from previous years (ie. camp cooking, trail maintenance, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, etc.) and furthering those skills in order to provide students for greater opportunities at self-sufficiency, community building, leadership, and a greater appreciation of our wild places.
In three years at Explorer West, students will spend 33 days outdoors developing the following skills:
- Minimum Impact and Leave-No-Trace camping practices
- Map reading and navigation skills
- Basic first aid
- Leadership and cooperation
- Reflection and self-examination
A key goal of our program is to prepare our students for a lifetime of safe, fun, sustainable outdoor adventures in the beautiful, variable, and wild Pacific Northwest, and beyond
Our Head of School Barbara Frailey went to Ross Lake on her inaugural Explorer West outdoor ed trip. Here's a short video about her experience.
On our last Outdoor Education trip along the coast, we played a game of low tide, driftwood baseball. Home plate was a washed-up sea bass, so there was no sliding into home! It was a blast, even after hiking 6-8 miles that day.
EW Student
I'll never forget the breathtaking sights and amazing experiences that bonded us. We worked like a family and played like a family.