Outdoor Education Program

The mission of the NMH Outdoor Education Program (OEP) is to enrich the academic, residential, and athletic programs at NMH by providing adventure and instruction in the exploration of the outdoors. An outdoor team and specialized outdoor classes lead students to new levels of personal responsibility and achievement as well as an appreciation of the natural world. OEP instructors are further charged with infusing their students with skills and enjoyment that promote different outdoor pursuits as lifelong recreational opportunities.

The foundation of the outdoor program is made up of the NMH Outdoor Team (ATC 317) which meets fall and spring terms, and the physical education classes devoted to specific outdoor activities: Recreational Sailing (PEC 316), Mountain Biking (PEC 324), Rock Climbing (PEC 313 and 323), Winter in the Outdoors (PEC 312), Canoeing (PEC 326), and Recreational Bicycling (PEC 304). The outdoor team satisfies the athletic team requirement for any grade level, and the outdoor activity classes meet any physical education class requirement in a given term. These activity classes are subject to instructor availability. Also, regularly scheduled physical education classes may be informed with a choice of outdoor activities that are seasonally appropriate.

Outdoor Outreach
The OEP plays a significant role with orientation, leadership training, and student activity opportunities at NMH. At the beginning of each school year, the ninth-grade orientation program revolves around the outdoor world. Ninth graders spend their first night at the school in tents while orienting to campus life, and take part in hiking, canoeing, and bicycling as part of the orientation process. This orientation is also a significant leadership opportunity for many of the school’s student leaders who have honed their leadership skills with activities, initiatives, and their own orientation in the outdoors. Toward the end of spring term, the OEP facilitates the Adventure Challenge, an on-campus race using bicycling, canoeing, and orienteering skills for two-person student/faculty and four-person student leader teams. In the fall and spring terms, OEP coordinates Hogger disc golf tournaments for the NMH community. Outdoor instructors are also available to supervise independent physical education studies, to oversee student club activities such as canoeing and cross-country skiing, and to facilitate any outdoor experience a classroom teacher may have in mind.

Equipment and Clothing
NMH provides all of the equipment needed to participate safely with the outdoor team and the specialized activity classes. Industry-approved equipment such as canoes, personal flotation devices, dry suits, climbing ropes, harnesses, snowshoes, and sleeping bags are provided for student use. Students are required to be adequately equipped with clothing and footwear as advised for the season.

Safety
While OEP classes emphasize adventure, exploration, and fun, safety is the foundation on which all activities are built. Two instructors accompany each off-campus activity. At least one of the instructors will have an advanced medical certification such as Wilderness First Responder. Instructors carry a cell phone and first-aid kit on all off-campus trips, and each mountain bike instructor also carries a two-way radio. All instructors are committed to an OEP policy and protocols agreement that promotes safety-first considerations in all decision making.

Outdoors & PE/A
The OEP is administered as part of the physical education and athletics (PE/A) department. OEP instruction is provided by a program director/instructor and an instructor, both of whom are members of the PE/A department. Both instructors are graduates of the yearlong Outdoor Leadership Program at Greenfield Community College, and hold current certifications from organizations such as the American Canoe Association and Wilderness Medical Associates. The outdoor instructors are assisted from time to time by faculty with activity-specific experience and expertise.

Specialized outdoor classes satisfy the PE/A course requirement in the term they are taken.

Philosophy
All outdoor instruction at NMH shares a common philosophy of promoting a connection to the land, and a respect for the natural world and one another.

ATC 317 The Outdoor Team

Selection for the outdoor team (OT) satisfies a student’s interscholastic sports requirement for the year, and the cocurricular requirement in the term it is taken. The OT meets fall and spring terms with instruction and activities programmed six days a week, as per a regular sport team schedule. Two hour classes are instructed Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday; extended time is devoted to activities on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. Some flexibility of time may be needed when overnight trips, one in each term, are programmed. Activities will include rock climbing, sailing, bicycling (road and mountain), and camping with associated outdoor skills. Students are eligible to take the class once per academic year, and it is open to all grade levels of students.