“Similar to an Outward Bound course, life throws challenges at you. They are not always going to be easy to walk through. It's going to keep happening. You can either persevere and be resilient and show grit, and shine when you're challenged or you can go the other way. You can give up and fall apart. People are not learning grit and resilience and perseverance at school. That is not something you can learn from a book. The only way you can learn it is through experience and to be challenged,” said Baltimore Instructor, Lindsay Land.
Read the whole story, published by our friends at the Chesapeake Conservancy to chronicle the next generation of environmental leaders.
More than simply a technical skills course, this sea kayaking expedition offers the chance to grow as an individual and as a leader.
Explore the Chesapeake Bay from the hull of a kayak. With every stroke, work as a group to overcome expedition challenges, develop a greater belief in yourself and your crew and learn why teamwork is often more important than everything else combined. As you move through stunning natural landscapes and encounter physical, mental and emotional obstacles, you’ll discover the importance of perseverance – and identify and refine the leadership skills you already possess. Take part in hands-on activities and lessons that shed light on the human and natural history of the Bay and enjoy access to protected lands and campsites that enhance your knowledge of the local area and encourage stewardship of the region. Partnerships with key environmental organizations, including the Maryland Department of Fish & Wildlife, The Chesapeake Conservancy, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, offer valuable insight – and provide context for the expedition’s environmental emphasis.
NOTE: For the health and safety of students and staff in the COVID-19 pandemic, students may be required to travel to course start by private transportation. Please work directly with your Course Advisor for your course for the most up-to-date and regionally-focused travel options. All students and staff must provide a current negative COVID-19 viral test result before arrival to course and/or consent to having a COVID-19 test administered at course start. Outward Bound requires students and staff to follow COVID-19 protocols for 14 days prior to course start and while traveling including physical distancing, wearing a mask in public, and frequent and thorough handwashing.For complete “Health and Safety Practices for Outward Bound Expeditions,” click here.
This course starts within the next week. Please call us at 866-467-7651 to assess the possibility of applying for this course!
Classic Courses
Are you ready to take a journey that will change your life? You won’t look at day-to-day drama the same way after you’ve conquered a high mountain ridge, made a boat obey your command in windswept waves or slept under the stars watching bats swoop overhead. Joining an Outward Bound expedition changes you. Your crew, your Instructor, your route and your adventures will have a profound and lasting impact on you as you rise to meet exhilarating natural challenges in some of the country’s wildest places.
Build skills, form connections: Learn and practice wilderness, teamwork and leadership skills. Find connections with your crewmates based on support and respect (and fun too!), and in the thick of challenges, discover there is more in you than you know.
Value strengths and strengthen values: Uncover your unique character strengths, develop your leadership abilities and learn how to let compassion in to everyday life by pushing your own limits and working alongside your peers.
Demonstrate mastery: As you gain confidence in new skills, take on more decision-making responsibilities. Work together to achieve team goals, solve problems and succeed both as individuals and as a group.
What you’ll learn: For High School students, the opportunities to carry more weight (literally and figuratively) and make impactful decisions with accompanying consequences fills the expedition as you go through numerous trials and triumphs. It’s all about independence.
After you come home, many of the character, leadership and service traits you uncovered on your expedition stay with you, helping you navigate your daily life with more resilience and success.
Photo courtesy
of Zach Shenal
Photo courtesy
of Zach Shenal
Photo courtesy
of Zach Shenal
Photo courtesy
of Peter Turcik
Photo courtesy
of Zach Shenal
Photo courtesy
of Zach Shenal
Photo courtesy
of Zach Shenal
Photo courtesy
of Zach Shenal
Sea Kayaking
Students paddle throughout the Chesapeake Bay, camping each night along the shoreline. Instructors teach proper sea kayaking techniques such as paddling, rolls and wet exits. Students also learn marine navigation and campcraft and face challenges that develop advanced leadership skills in addition to the technical skills they will be mastering.
Photo courtesy
of Ben Worden
Photo courtesy
of Ben Worden
Photo courtesy
of Ben Worden
Photo courtesy
of Ben Worden
Photo courtesy
of Brock Jones
Photo courtesy
of Brock Jones
Service
Service to others and to the environment are core values of Outward Bound and they are integrated into each course. Participants follow Leave No Trace ethics as part of their service to the environment. Students develop an ingrained appreciation of service, seeing the impact of their actions firsthand, by multiple small acts of service with and for their crewmates while leading and supporting each other throughout the journey.
Solo
In order for profound learning to take place, there must be time to reflect on the experience. Solo is that opportunity, and that time can range anywhere from 30 minutes to 24 hours. It is a chance to experience solitude in the wilderness without distraction while also taking a break from the physical rigors of activities. Students experience short periods of time away from their group throughout the course for reflection. These “mini-solos” are at solo sites chosen by Instructors to provide as much solitude as possible (within emergency whistle-signaling distance of other group members). Participants have all necessary equipment, food and water during their Solo time, and safety is always the top priority.
Outcomes
Helping students and their families see positive development in character skills is a key component of Outward Bound courses. Each student will complete a 19-question self-assessment designed by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to measure growth in four specific socio-emotional skills: conflict management, emotional self-efficacy, grit/resilience and problem solving. After completing the course, students will receive a Report Card that illustrates the improvement in these areas, as well as a written narrative from the Instructor that highlights additional takeaways for the student.
Photo courtesy
of Jay Fleming
Photo courtesy
of Peter Turcik
Photo courtesy
of Jay Fleming
Photo courtesy
of Peter Turcik
Course Area
Chesapeake Bay, Nanticoke River
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the nation - the meeting point where 400 rivers, creeks, and streams spanning from New York to Virginia all travel to the Atlantic Ocean. It boasts 4,600 miles of tidal shoreline perfect for kayaking. Outward Bound courses use a section of the historic 3,000-mile Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail which traces the 1607–1609 voyages of Captain John Smith to chart the land and waterways of the Bay. Along with the Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail, it is one of two water trails designated as National Historic Trails. These regions are the ancestral lands of the Nentego (Nanticoke) nation.
SAMPLE ITINERARY
DAY 1
Course start, introductory lessons in sea kayaking and water safety, begin paddling
DAY 2-5
Kayaking, lessons in advanced paddling techniques and Chesapeake Bay ecology
DAY 6
Kayaking final challenge, solo
DAY 7
Return to base, clean and de-issue gear, service project
DAY 8
Personal challenge event, graduation, depart for the airport
Course Stories
“Similar to an Outward Bound course, life throws challenges at you. They are not always going to be easy to walk through. It's going to keep happening. You can either persevere and be resilient and show grit, and shine when you're challenged or you can go the other way. You can give up and fall apart. People are not learning grit and resilience and perseverance at school. That is not something you can learn from a book. The only way you can learn it is through experience and to be challenged,” said Baltimore Instructor, Lindsay Land.
Read the whole story, published by our friends at the Chesapeake Conservancy to chronicle the next generation of environmental leaders.
If you are ready to enroll on a course click the enroll button next to the course you wish to select or you can enroll over the phone by speaking with one of our Admissions Advisors (toll-free) at 866-467-7651.
To secure your spot on a course you must submit an enrollment form and $500 deposit that is applied toward the total cost of the course and includes a $150 non-refundable enrollment processing fee.