Warming Up for Winter Outdoor Education

Explorer West Middle School staff and students are preparing for the Winter Outdoor Education (OE) program which includes several Friday trips to The Summit/Snoqualmie Pass recreational areas in January and February. With the leadership of a new OE faculty member, Philip Giammarino, the Winter OE curriculum is evolving to stay closer to the school’s mission and program goals, which includes teaching progressive independence and making safe outdoor adventure choices. With the new school facility, one of the portables is being used as a storage and prep space for the wide array of school-owned gear.

More specifically, the winter program includes:

• 6^th grade students build their own snowshoes out of sustainable willow and other materials with the guidance of experts from Cascade Designs. They transverse the snow by hiking in their new shoes to areas where they can begin to learn snow shelter and survival skills.
• 7^th grade students learn cross-country skiing and intermediate snow safety lessons.
• 8th grade students use rented snowshoes to travel deeper into the snow wilderness. They enhance their snow studies/analysis with more advanced snow shelter building and avalanche safety training.

Phil has been on two Explorer West Outdoor Education trips previously and is very excited to work with the students again to build on their energy and skills. To learn more about Phil’s expertise in this arena, please visit the Explorer West faculty page at: http://www.explorerwest.org/faculty.asp.