Adventures Your Teens and Tweens Will Never Forget

Spring and summer breaks may seem far off in the future now, but for the past year, Parkway-Rockwood Community Ed has been planning the ultimate getaways for St. Louis area high school and middle school students with an adventurous streak.

From March 12-18, 2017, high schoolers from throughout the region are invited on the trip of a lifetime. Northern Tracks will take participants to the backwoods of Minnesota for a week of hands-on outdoor learning plus cross-country skiing, rock climbing and other snow-capped outings. But more important, through this adventure, kids will build confidence and friendships that will help them take on any challenge in the future.

Next summer, July 16-22, 2017, students currently in grades 6-8 can ignite their daring sides with canoeing, hiking, rock climbing, zip lining, and more with the Great Lakes Voyage.

Branching out beyond St. Louis

Northern Tracks and the Great Lakes Voyage are part of Parkway-Rockwood Community Ed’s Trek and Travel program at the Babler Outdoor Education Center. Over the years, youth have journeyed to the Smoky Mountains, Yellowstone Park and the Great Lakes to get, what Kevin Zimmer, Community Ed Manager explains, “A greater idea of the world around them outside of St. Louis.”

Trek and Travel is specially curated to connect what students learn in the classroom to real-world experiences. Certified teachers work hand in hand with place-based learning centers throughout the country to ensure the science-based experiential lessons teens receive in the great outdoors align with their school curriculum to maximize learning. The result? Students gain a better grasp of scientific principles while having fun doing so.

 “It’s really important to promote and demonstrate the need to leave a smaller footprint than we normally would,” said Zimmer. “Kids have gotten too far away from nature as we’ve grown into a ‘civilized’ society. As the book Last Child in the Woods makes clear, kids have lost that natural ability to play and to appreciate the outdoors. Even with everything going on in their lives, we want them to get back into nature where we all belong so they can help protect it in the future.”

In addition to play-based learning, Northern Tracks and Great Lakes Voyage serve up plenty of adrenaline-pumping activities. In addition to skiing and snowboarding, teens can try out the high challenge course, sail down the alpine coaster and try out snowshoeing for themselves. On the Great Lakes Adventure, they'll take part in zip lining, canoeing, hiking and lots more.

This combination of learning and fun has made a huge impact on students as well as their parents who have seen a huge difference in their kids’ self-awareness and self-confidence upon returning home.

Remarked one parent whose child participated in a Grand Teton National Park trip, “My child developed ‘independence’ on his trip to the Tetons. The trip allowed him to experience a variety of new situations – travel, make new friends, experience new parts of the world, raft in a river, and see geysers and mud pots – all in a safe environment that set high expectations for personal responsibility.”

Register your student for a trip to remember

The Northern Tracks is currently open to high school students and the Great Lakes Voyage is for students in grades 6-8, regardless of where they attend school in the metropolitan area. The trips are chaperoned by professional educators as well as a registered nurse. Northern Tracks costs $775 per student, and the Great Lakes Voyage is $655. Prices include motor coach transportation, dormitory-style lodging, activities, and meals and snacks. Limited fee assistance is available to those who qualify on a first-come, first-saved basis until funds are exhausted.

To register your child for Northern Tracks or Great Lakes Voyage or for more information, visit the Babler Outdoor Education Center online at www.prcommunityed.org or call 636-891-6644.

_{Photos courtesy of Parkway-Rockwood Community Ed}