Name of School: Sonrise Christian School
Location of School: Covina, California
Outdoor Studies
Program Objective: to grow in maturity through challenge experienced on a wilderness adventure
Summary of Program:
At the beginning of each year, the eighth-grade students at Sonrise Christian School and their teachers head for the High Sierras for a weeklong backpacking trip that they will never forget. The school contracts with a Christian wilderness organization that takes care of all the logistical arrangements and provides all the gear. The only things that students need to bring are their personal belongings. Yet this task is a challenge for most because they are permitted to bring only what they can fit into a single grocery-sized bag.
Once the students reach their mountain destination, they divide into small groups of 10 to 12 and proceed in different directions down the trail with two or three adult guides. While on their trek through the wilderness, the students learn to survive on only what they carry on their backs. Each student learns how to light a camp stove, cook in the wild, purify water, build a shelter, dig a latrine, hang food to protect it from bears, stay warm in freezing weather, and dozens of other survival skills.
Physically
Each year, the school carefully selects for each group an assignment that will tax the physical abilities of group members and force them to pull together as a team. The task before the students is within their reach, but at times they will wonder if it is. For most, this trip is the first time they have ever been stretched physically. Much soul-searching occurs on those hot dusty trails, and at the end of the week, the students have learned that they are capable of more than they ever thought possible.
Emotionally
A wilderness experience provides emotional challenges that students would never encounter in the comfort of a classroom. On Walkabouts, students experience a gamut of emotions: homesickness, anger, frustration, fear, joy, and the satisfaction of accomplishment. Students learn to deal with these emotions, and in doing so, they take great strides toward maturity. They probably learn more about themselves in one week than they would in a whole year at school.
Socially
A group of adolescents who live and work together for an entire week under conditions foreign to them can present some difficult social challenges. Each day, the students are assigned a different leadership role that often forces them out of their comfort zones. Students quickly learn that abilities and personalities differ, but in spite of the friction created by these differences, people must work together to survive in the wilderness. Strong bonds form between teachers and students, bonds that last throughout the school year.
Spiritually
Away from the distractions of civilization, the wilderness provides the perfect setting for students to come in contact with God. The real-life experiences they face throughout the day provide timely teaching moments. Biblical lessons are no longer just theoretical concepts taught in a Bible class. They take on a practical meaning as students face daily challenges.
The Walkabout has become both a tradition at Sonrise Christian School and an event that younger students eagerly anticipate. Often it is the activity that is most remembered by graduates. It is a life-changing experience that provides growth opportunities not available in a classroom.
Walkabout—A Wilderness Challenge 5.5