List of 3 items.

• Expedition Details

  Each term on Mountain Classroom provides a unique experience to students. Read details about each expedition below.
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  Winter Term: 
  

  Students begin the Winter Term in New Hampshire where students build a foundation in each of their academic subjects. In addition, there are discussions and seminars on topics necessary for group living such as conflict resolution, decision-making, and communication skills. The afternoons during this time are devoted to expedition skills training. This typically includes wilderness first aid, camping, Leave-No-Trace ethics, expedition planning, and initiative challenges. During this portion of the term, the group usually embarks on a road trip/winter camping expedition to test students' newly acquired skills.
  
  

  After holiday break, the group travels to Atlanta where they are met by the instructors who have driven the minibus and trailer to Georgia to help maximize time in the field for the group. For the next seven weeks students travel by minibus--camping out, roughing it together, and bonding as a group. Typically, the Winter expedition heads for the Southwest. Each expedition includes a week of backpacking in an area rich in Native American ruins and geological features such as southern New Mexico's Gila Wilderness; whitewater canoeing on a river like the Rio Grande in Texas; rock climbing in an area of historical significance such as Hueco Tanks in Texas or Joshua Tree in California; or visiting a Native American Reservation such as the Tohono O'odham to gain a native perspective on place. In addition, the Winter expedition spends a number of days in El Paso, Texas completing Border Awareness Education at Annunciation House. A three-day wilderness solo is a part of every Mountain Classroom Expedition.
  
  

  Students spend the final week of the term at Mission Creek Preserve in Desert Hot Springs, California completing their final projects. At the end of the term, students and faculty debrief and evaluate their experience before flying back to New Hampshire.

  
  
  Spring Term: 
  

  The Spring Term begins with students flying out West; typically to Ontario, California. Once there, they embark on an intensive weeklong orientation program at Mission Creek Preserve in Desert Hot Springs to build a foundation for their academic, expedition skills, and group dynamics courses. 
  
  

  After Orientation, Mountain Classroom heads out on the road, often to Joshua Tree National Park for the first rock climbing component of the term, and then on to a canoe trip on the Colorado River, Wilderness First Aid certification in Salt Lake City and a week long rafting trip on the San Juan River in Utah. This spring, the students will have their wilderness solo in Valley of the Gods in Utah and then they head north to Colorado and on to the Rosebud Lakota Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. With a week-long stop in Michigan, students complete their academic work and students and faculty debrief and evaluate their experience. The group then makes their way back to New England for what is typically a student led backpacking trip to finish up their experience.

• Mountain Classroom Objectives

  Throughout each term, Mountain Classroom students and teachers work toward achieving the following objectives: 
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  • To provide students with the opportunity to learn through the process of applied and integrated education. 
  • To give students the experience of studying a geographical area intensively, through a curriculum involving literature, history and natural science. 
  • Through direct involvement, to provide students with the opportunity to develop and fine-tune outdoor skills, ranging from rock climbing and boating to back country trekking and camp craft skills. 
  • Through the integration of outdoor skills and development and academics, provide students with a framework for understanding the role of mankind on earth. This includes concepts ranging from wilderness ethics to the utilization of natural resources. 
  • To place students in a rigorous environment that demands group cooperation and self-sacrifice, thereby providing students with the opportunity for growth in emotional maturity and self-reliance.

• Meet Our Instructors!

  Proctor's Mountain Classroom instructors are full-time Proctor employees with a wealth of education and field experience. Read their biographies below:
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  Kate Sabo

  Kate is ecstatic to be returning to New England after five years of working internationally as an outdoor guide in Vietnam and China and an experiential education gap year instructor throughout Southeast Asia and South America. Kate grew up in the farmlands of Western Massachusetts and has spent the better portion of her life pursuing her next big adventure. Kate has lived and studied in Spain, summited mountains in the Andes, battled against the winds of Patagonia and sweated through Central America by bike.
  
  From a young age Kate learned the importance and transformational power that comes from travel, engaging with the natural world and the investigating the diversity of the human experience. Kate holds a BA in Anthropology and Gender Studies, completing her capstone research on the influence of tourism on rural communities in developing countries. Kate speaks fluent Spanish and is working on her Mandarin Chinese. Outside of travel Kate enjoys rock climbing, whitewater kayaking, mountain biking, spontaneous dancing and the warmth of her sleeping bag on a cold New Hampshire night.