Intercept Courses

Outward Bound Intercept expeditions are specifically designed for struggling teens and their families. These highly structured courses remove young people from the pressures and influences of home and school, and present them instead with healthy risks and natural challenges. In a fresh, wilderness environment, students practice new ways of making choices and setting goals. 

• Build core skills: Instructors teach students the skills they need to travel safely through the wilderness. As the group builds competency, they confront obstacles that require real-time, cooperative decision-making and attention to detail. 
• Practice Outward Bound values: Instructors mentor students through the process of self-discovery and encourage appropriate risk-taking and positive approaches to daily challenges.
• Demonstrate mastery: As the course nears the end, Instructors step back - and allow students to experience the joys and challenges of taking charge.
• Transfer skills: Students prepare to reunite with families and transfer Outward Bound successes to lives back home. This phase involves two days of volunteer work and culminates with a facilitated conversation between students and their families.
• What students learn: Armed with conflict resolution skills, communication strategies and a keen awareness of themselves and others, students are empowered to start on a new path.

Family Seminar

As the course draws to a close, students have made great strides having learned how to balance freedom and responsibility, how to be part of a team, and how to make good choices and stick by them. They feel good about themselves and life. But now it's back to reality. How do teens and families translate the incredible Intercept experience into lasting positive change?

Parents or guardians are a critical link in the success of the Intercept experience. Parents and guardians have the opportunity to think through their relationship with their teen by using a comprehensive workbook. Then a mid-course phone conference and a course-end intensive three-day seminar helps form and solidify the path ahead. Mid-course, parents will schedule a phone call with the course director. The phone call will be with both their child and at least one Instructor. Updates, current goals, struggles and successes will be shared. The next step is the parent conference and debrief. Families meet one-on-one with at least one of the expedition Instructors to learn how their teen fared on the course. They hear a detailed account of what the course was like, the struggles and successes of the group and how their teen handled the challenges. With the Instructor, parents prepare for the next day's meeting with their teen. Finally, it's time to make a plan. Together with an Instructor acting as a facilitator, parents and teens come up with a new agreement to guide life at home. The goal for the family is to know that teens can conduct themselves appropriately and to clearly define expectations. The goal for the student is to have a say in the direction their life takes and to clearly understand what is required to earn more freedom.

Service

Service to others and the environment is a core value of Outward Bound and is integrated into each course. Participants follow Leave No Trace ethics as service to the environment and do acts of service while leading and supporting fellow participants. Designated service projects are coordinated with land managers like the US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service to collaborate on land restoration projects. Some projects are more social services based, and participants may visit a nursing home or hospital to provide service there. Students develop a value of service, seeing the impact of their actions firsthand and transfer this desire to serve their communities back home.

Solo

The solo experience provides an important break from the rigors of the expedition and gives students the opportunity to reflect on their Outward Bound experience. Many students use this reflection time to make decisions about their future, journal and enjoy the beauty of their surroundings unencumbered by the constant external stimulation of modern life. The duration of solo depends on the course length and type, as well as the competency and preparedness of the student group. With all the food, skills and supplies they need, participants are given a secluded spot to reflect alone, and are monitored by staff throughout the experience to maintain safety. Students find that solo provokes profound and powerful learning in a short period of time and often becomes one of the most memorable parts of their Outward Bound experience.

Outcomes

Courses are offered in a variety of locations and for different lengths to provide a range of programming from which participants can choose the optimal experience for them. Longer courses allow for a full immersion into the Outward Bound experience, more time to practice wilderness travel, and the opportunity to experience both success and failure to promote personal growth. The Intercept course in particular offers the opportunity to be fully removed from the temptations and triggers of day-to-day life and start fresh with new habits and new lessons. Students can expect to get comfortable living and working together in the wilderness while creating a solid foundation of skill sets and they can continue to build on after course. With the added support of parent or guardian involvement, students are really able to take lessons they’ve learned on this course back to their home lives and implement the changes they want to see.

Course Area

Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Minnesota

Established in 1964, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) is a labyrinth of lakes and rocks that has been specifically protected as a true American wilderness. No roads, power lines, or motorized craft may enter its borders. Therefore, the Boundary Waters has changed little since its unveiling when the glaciers melted 10,000 years ago. Over 1 million acres in size, the BWCAW extends nearly 150 miles along the Canadian border. With over 1,200 miles of canoe routes, nearly 2,200 designated campsites and more than 1,000 lakes and streams, the BWCAW is an amazing place to experience the wilderness.

The BWCAW contains portage-linked lakes and streams, interspersed with islands, forests and crags. It has no piped water, prepared shelters or signs to point the way. Within these borders students can canoe, portage and camp in the spirit of the French-Canadian Voyageurs of 200 years ago. The Boundary Waters' 1,200 miles of paddling routes offer outstanding opportunities for solitude, remoteness, teamwork, adventure and challenge.

Border Route Hiking Trail, Minnesota

The Border Route Trail is a 65-mile long hiking trail that crosses the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) in the far northeast corner of Minnesota. It was planned and built in the early 1970s by the Minnesota Rovers Outing Club, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the US Forest Service. It is the first long-distance, wilderness-backpacking trail in Minnesota that was planned and constructed by volunteers.

The Border Route Trail follows the international border between Minnesota and Canada and is a rugged wilderness area. The trail travels up ridge lines and over cliffs that provide impressive views of the BWCAW in Minnesota and Quetico Provincial Park in Canada. Even though it is a maintained trail, downed trees and patches of thick brush are common obstacles on the trail. The Border Route Hiking trail provides solitude and beauty to be enjoyed by all who hike it.