AT hike as a high school credit

[reds]

Can someone give me ideas on how I could show that hiking the AT has acedemic qualities as in it uses what they teach us in high school?

[Lone Wolf]

i can't think of any :-?

[max patch]

Nice try, but an AT hike is in no way comparable to what you need to be learning in high school.

You can practice your elementary school math; I'm at Town A mile 1500, I want to resupply at Town B mile 1607, I hike 15 miles per day, how many days of food do I need to bring.

You can also practice your writing skills if you keep a journal.

Keep your AT hiking to weekends, holidays, and summer breaks until you graduate.

[canoehead]

I do it all the time. I own an outdoor ed business and I'm in K-12 schools all the time promoting the AT and outdoors in general. Let me help ya out LW & red's you integrate it with current programming in the classroom, IE.
English. Read about the AT
Math.-Incorporate map and compass.(bearings, paces, steps, judging distance. etc...
History.- self explanatory, do your research.
P.E. Actually go on your planed hike.
Art. draw- paint what you saw/experienced, (shelter, view, lake,etc
Geology. see what kind of rocks are in your area / what does it mean/how did they get there.
Science. forest floor, canopy skies are the limit here use your imagination.
Culmination of school studies can be a camp out.
Keep it safe, simple and attainable for the age level you're working with. Good luck.

[Pedaling Fool]

I do it all the time. I own an outdoor ed business and I'm in K-12 schools all the time promoting the AT and outdoors in general. Let me help ya out LW & red's you integrate it with current programming in the classroom, IE.
English. Read about the AT
Math.-Incorporate map and compass.(bearings, paces, steps, judging distance. etc...
History.- self explanatory, do your research.
P.E. Actually go on your planed hike.
Art. draw- paint what you saw/experienced, (shelter, view, lake,etc
Geology. see what kind of rocks are in your area / what does it mean/how did they get there.
Science. forest floor, canopy skies are the limit here use your imagination.
Culmination of school studies can be a camp out.
Keep it safe, simple and attainable for the age level you're working with. Good luck.
That's really stretching it. During a hike you will pass those things, but you really have no time to study them, yes you can stop and admire them, but study...no.

By those standards you can incorporate any activity into a curriculum. Yes you can talk about all those things during a hike, but there will be no real study time, just a lot of walking, so I'll give you the P.E. angle.

Of course the AT has acedemic qualities, but that doesn't mean that hiking is a way to study those qualities.

[4eyedbuzzard]

Can someone give me ideas on how I could show that hiking the AT has acedemic qualities as in it uses what they teach us in high school?
What are you thinking of? A hike might provide a basis for a term paper or writing exercise. Ask your instructors. You could probably use examples of navigation / map skills to show how basic geometry and math can be used during navigation. Ditto for budgeting, showing math and accounting skills. Examining flora and fauna and taking field notes might be able to be used to highlight lessons learned in biology or similar sciences. You might also be able to use a narrative of a hike as a composition piece. But the actual hiking in and of itself likely doesn't fulfill any academic requirements.

[Lone Wolf]

I do it all the time. I own an outdoor ed business and I'm in K-12 schools all the time promoting the AT and outdoors in general. Let me help ya out LW & red's you integrate it with current programming in the classroom, IE.
English. Read about the AT
Math.-Incorporate map and compass.(bearings, paces, steps, judging distance. etc...
History.- self explanatory, do your research.
P.E. Actually go on your planed hike.
Art. draw- paint what you saw/experienced, (shelter, view, lake,etc
Geology. see what kind of rocks are in your area / what does it mean/how did they get there.
Science. forest floor, canopy skies are the limit here use your imagination.
Culmination of school studies can be a camp out.
Keep it safe, simple and attainable for the age level you're working with. Good luck.
puh-leese :rolleyes:

[canoehead]

John I have to disagree. The outdoors is my classroom and it does work to meet standards K-12 and not to mention our college level programs. It's just not a conventional indoor classroom learning environment.
I applaud anyone who is willing to take an experiential approach to teaching because there are many different learning styles. Our hands on environmental programs have won our local school state awards and we've opened the door for our kids to get outdoors and see what out there and not just wonder about it while looking out a window.

www.tekoamountainoutdoors.com

[Pete Moss]

There was a kid in high school that hiked a few years back. If I recall correctly, he took aleave of abscence, but had to do the work he would miss the summer before. he ekpt a good journal too,Anyone recall his name?

[4eyedbuzzard]

John I have to disagree. The outdoors is my classroom and it does work to meet standards K-12 and not to mention our college level programs. It's just not a conventional indoor classroom learning environment.
I applaud anyone who is willing to take an experiential approach to teaching because there are many different learning styles. Our hands on environmental programs have won our local school state awards and we've opened the door for our kids to get outdoors and see what out there and not just wonder about it while looking out a window.

www.tekoamountainoutdoors.com (http://www.tekoamountainoutdoors.com)
You're talking about a structured program with guidance / instruction / etc from experienced teachers and leaders designed to fulfill certain educational / learning goals. The OP seemed to be talking about just hiking on his own as fulfilling educational requirements. There's a big difference.

[Pedaling Fool]

John I have to disagree. The outdoors is my classroom and it does work to meet standards K-12 and not to mention our college level programs. It's just not a conventional indoor classroom learning environment.
I applaud anyone who is willing to take an experiential approach to teaching because there are many different learning styles. Our hands on environmental programs have won our local school state awards and we've opened the door for our kids to get outdoors and see what out there and not just wonder about it while looking out a window.

www.tekoamountainoutdoors.com (http://www.tekoamountainoutdoors.com)
I think it's a good idea to get kids outside for a hike, but as a classroom? What does that mean? Do you do bring all the study materials with you and do math problems, read and study geology, history....

Seeing it is nice and gives one a different perspective, but that's not the same as what the OP was asking: "Can someone give me ideas on how I could show that hiking the AT has acedemic qualities as in it uses what they teach us in high school?"

There are academic qualities to the AT and there's a time to take kids to see the AT, but hiking the AT is a physical, not academic activity.

[4eyedbuzzard]

There was a kid in high school that hiked a few years back. If I recall correctly, he took aleave of abscence, but had to do the work he would miss the summer before. he ekpt a good journal too,Anyone recall his name?
Probably Kirby. Long story, but he seems to have broken contact with both WB and his family as of late. Seemed to be a nice kid. Hopefuly just having "growing pains" and out exploring the world / finding himself.

[Pete Moss]

T'was Kirby! thanks Buzzard. Sorry to hear that, but we all go through it at that age. Hope he comes out the other side.

[canoehead]

I guess I wasn't thinking (Thru hike) or six months away from a local school.
I have run many mutli / day programs on the AT, and yes sometimes they bring school materials outdoors. Depends on what the focus of the trip is about.

[swash]

Hike for your senior exit project when you are a senior. You could go out on a volunteer hike and do some trail maintenance as your community service.

[napster]

I met a father with five sons that were thru hiking one year.Ages 5-15, I ask him how he manage to get em outta school for the hike and he said the principle told the him that them boys would learn alot more about life out hiking the AT then sitting in school and approved the time outta school. Im guessing he was a old school principle and seeing how things have changed so much in school he was good with it.
Back when I was in school their was books ,yardsticks,rulers,paddles and what was ever so close to the teacher at the time of wooping that was used.Now a days the kids back talk the teachers, but not all but anyways their are pleanty of switches along the AT "just kidding" One year outta 12 on the AT before you hit the real world would have more benifits to prepare em for the BS their gonna face before they enter into the real world. Just my 2 cents.
N..

[hobbs]

I really think education has caved to social theory that's defunct..Meaning that public education is crap!!! maybe it is a good thing for kids...I dont know, all I know is that kids want an Xbox and stare at cartoon network and we changed to standardised tests and thats not working because someone can sue a school because little johnny doesn't want to Learn....Maybe getting them on the trail will teach work ethic I dont know but what we have now isn't working....

[ARambler]

Yesterday, I talked to a father who's son is going to hike the first 2 weeks in March for his senior high school project.
If you want to learn how to deal with cynics, stay here on whiteblaze. If you want to learn how to achieve goals, get out on the trail (and you may be surprised that whiteblaze may help you set and achieve your goals.)
Rambler

[Blissful]

There's plenty to learn in the great outdoors, much more than stuffed in a classroom with thirty other kids and a lone teacher way in over their head trying to get kids to learn anything while they're texting etc. The reason we are who we are today is pioneers, adventurers, and inventors that were not stuffed in classrooms but got out and did the hard stuff and learned on their own from the world around them, and many through trial and error. Out there you are because of what you do and the learning and discovery you do on your own. And I can say it b/c my high school education really stunk. I had to learn on my own.
Anyway there's Biology. math, writing skills (like journaling as someone suggested), not to mention all the life skills that you cannot ever duplicate in a classroom. Like determination, courage, planning, budgeting, buying supplies, coping with the unexpected.
Man I would have him trade a 6 month journey on the AT for 4 months in a classroom any day (which is about what it amount to, with start dates).

And anyway, aren't there college courses where students get credits hiking and learning about the AT?

[Blissful]

I met a father with five sons that were thru hiking one year.Ages 5-15, I ask him how he manage to get em outta school for the hike and he said the principle told the him that them boys would learn alot more about life out hiking the AT then sitting in school and approved the time outta school. Im guessing he was a old school principle and seeing how things have changed so much in school he was good with it.

N..


Exactly. Good for the principal. I think its great when young guys want to get out there, give up social life, facebook, computers, everything to tough it out for 6 months on the AT. Many go to school, come home and skip homework to play computer games or text.
I wish my son could have stayed and did more outdoors. Now he's totally wrapped in his phone and computer. He won't go back out or do much of anything else these days.

[Odd Man Out]

Previously on this thread...



“You can also practice your writing skills if you keep a journal.”
Too bad that Henry David Thoreau was just practicing his writing skills at Waldon Pond and never wrote anything of value.




“During a hike you will pass those things, but you really have no time to study them, yes you can stop and admire them, but study...no.”


Too bad that that John Muir just admired the Sierra Mountains and didn’t have time to develop the theory that the valleys were carved by glaciers, as opposed to the geologists in the classrooms of his day who said otherwise.

“Of course the AT has acedemic qualities, but that doesn't mean that hiking is a way to study those qualities.”


Good think Darwin never made any useful observation while hiking in the Galapagos Islands.





“I think it's a good idea to get kids outside for a hike, but as a classroom? What does that mean? Do you do bring all the study materials with you and do math problems, read and study geology, history....”
Good thing that John Wesley Powell brought all those text books down the Grand Canyon instead of reading the layers of rocks.





“There are academic qualities to the AT and there's a time to take kids to see the AT, but hiking the AT is a physical, not academic activity.”


I’m sure Thomas Jefferson told this to Lewis and Clark after their thru-hike to Oregon and back.


Does the phrase "not seeing the forest for the trees" mean anything to you?


Before you jump on me, I know full well that these people were all well educated people before going out into the woods and making their enormous contributions to knowledge. And to what degree you a HS student can access the educational opportunities to be had on a hike, I don't know. But to claim that hiking is not an academic activity or you don't have time to study while hiking is grossly short-sighted.

[swash]

Don't let school get in the way of your education, but don't think you can skip school entirely. School will form, to an extent, how well of an education you will have. Not saying you are skipping school entirely, as that's not the case. This is just my outlook on a subject like this.

[hobbs]

Exactly. Good for the principal. I think its great when young guys want to get out there, give up social life, facebook, computers, everything to tough it out for 6 months on the AT. Many go to school, come home and skip homework to play computer games or text.
I wish my son could have stayed and did more outdoors. Now he's totally wrapped in his phone and computer. He won't go back out or do much of anything else these days.
There is an article presently in National georaphic traveler about how social media has made Vacations themselves less than what they were.because society has become more connected and taken imagination way from the adventure...My friend is one of the social media individuals that stated that fact and see it as a bad thing...I equate it to education as well.When adventure and imagination and inginuity are taken away were just mere sheep....We no longer look for alternative meathods but rely on half hazzard ones...

[Namaste]

There's a program offered through a boys camp, Chewonki, up in Maine where you spend a semester there away from your high school learning and being outdoors....

http://www.chewonki.org/mcs/mcs_academics.asp

My kids have done several trips through them but never the semester program. It's an excellent opportunity and might be of interest to you.

[Trailweaver]

Based on your question, I'm not sure if you're asking if it would be "O.K." to maybe skip a year or so of HS altogether or just what you have in mind. . . anyway, I would say no, it would not be O.K. to do that.

However, I do think an independent study program could be designed in a field of interest if you could get a teacher/principal/school board (whoever has to be involved) to sign off on it. Many fields have already been mentioned, but I have one more for science/biology. You could become certified in testing water quality (at home) and then hike, testing the water quality at the different water sources you come to, keeping a detailed journal of your findings, for a given period of time or miles.

Every year I kayak with Paddle GA. We paddle approximately 100 miles of a river (different river each year so far) for a week. As we paddle there are different activities available for participation - wildlife notes, water testing, environmental impact studies, etc. We test the water quality of every small creek that feeds into the river all the way down and make extensive reports about this for the state. It's interesting, fun, and a lot of work. I would certainly think it would be interesting to do something like this along the AT.

[Pedaling Fool]

Previously on this thread...



“You can also practice your writing skills if you keep a journal.”
Too bad that Henry David Thoreau was just practicing his writing skills at Waldon Pond and never wrote anything of value.





“During a hike you will pass those things, but you really have no time to study them, yes you can stop and admire them, but study...no.”






Too bad that that John Muir just admired the Sierra Mountains and didn’t have time to develop the theory that the valleys were carved by glaciers, as opposed to the geologists in the classrooms of his day who said otherwise.





“Of course the AT has acedemic qualities, but that doesn't mean that hiking is a way to study those qualities.”






Good think Darwin never made any useful observation while hiking in the Galapagos Islands.







“I think it's a good idea to get kids outside for a hike, but as a classroom? What does that mean? Do you do bring all the study materials with you and do math problems, read and study geology, history....”


Good thing that John Wesley Powell brought all those text books down the Grand Canyon instead of reading the layers of rocks.








“There are academic qualities to the AT and there's a time to take kids to see the AT, but hiking the AT is a physical, not academic activity.”






I’m sure Thomas Jefferson told this to Lewis and Clark after their thru-hike to Oregon and back.





Does the phrase "not seeing the forest for the trees" mean anything to you?


Before you jump on me, I know full well that these people were all well educated people before going out into the woods and making their enormous contributions to knowledge. And to what degree you a HS student can access the educational opportunities to be had on a hike, I don't know. But to claim that hiking is not an academic activity or you don't have time to study while hiking is grossly short-sighted.
That sir, is some damn fine spin:D

[canoehead]

Nice job Odd Man Out.

[reds]

Im not looking to take of all year I want to leave in march. The main problem Im having is my principle sees hiking as a hoby. He is realy academic oreanted.

[Lone Wolf]

Im not looking to take of all year I want to leave in march. The main problem Im having is my principle sees hiking as a hoby. He is realy academic oreanted.

better bring some spelling assignments along :D

[Pete Moss]

Im not looking to take of all year I want to leave in march. The main problem Im having is my principle sees hiking as a hoby. He is realy academic oreanted.
From the looks of youor grammar and spelling...you should probably stay in school...Kidding, but seriously....

[max patch]

Im not looking to take of all year I want to leave in march. The main problem Im having is my principle sees hiking as a hoby. He is realy academic oreanted.

Your principal has principles.

[swash]

From the looks of youor grammar and spelling...you should probably stay in school...Kidding, but seriously....

The irony is killing me.

[Pete Moss]

HA! Caught it myself too late...whatevs! Never claimed to have one that nashinel spellin b myself and culd do sum rimdidel wurk miself!

[Pete Moss]

right in there with Matthewski!

[4eyedbuzzard]

Im not looking to take of all year I want to leave in march. The main problem Im having is my principle sees hiking as a hoby. He is realy academic oreanted.
Okay, either you have a highly honed sense of sarcastic wit for a 16 year old, or you should stay in school and pursue improving your English language skills. Your principal is correct by the way. Hiking is a hobby. And thru-hiking [sic] is a vacation.

[hobbs]

I think your principal is correct and its an extra curricular activity..Stay the semester in and hike during break...I didn't go to my high school graduation..I went with my father to Thailand instead..Climbing and packing instead of stuffy speech's..When I graduated college didn't go to that either. I had them mail me my diploma...I went to work....

[Bucherm]

I really think education has caved to social theory that's defunct..Meaning that public education is crap!!! maybe it is a good thing for kids...I dont know, all I know is that kids want an Xbox and stare at cartoon network and we changed to standardised tests and thats not working because someone can sue a school because little johnny doesn't want to Learn....Maybe getting them on the trail will teach work ethic I dont know but what we have now isn't working....

(Bolding mine)

Shoot, I'm 28 and I do that.


First time I went to college right out of HS I jerked around and ended up flunking out. I've noticed that as I go to college now(in addition to my day job) I'm a bit more attentive...as it's MY money being spent.

(The VA sends Vinnie and Moe over with baseball bats demanding recompensation if I get below a C)

To the OP:


Sit tight and do it after high school or after college. The AT will still be there. You should not do anything that would jeopordize you getting a HS Diploma...especially with unemployment sitting at the 10% mark.