Last week we kicked off another year of adventure learning with students from many schools within the Somerville Public School system. We love this partnership because it allows us to showcase the power of adventure to the diverse Somerville student population

As we design each of these programs, we work hard to take a very classroom centered approach. What I mean is that we don’t want to just throw them a canned program that highlights concepts they may not be interested in learning or that don’t fit the student’s current goals. Prior to each program, we spend time talking with each teacher to hear more about their students, the work they’re doing in the classroom and the social and emotional goals they’re trying to achieve throughout the year. We take that information and craft lessons and experiences that augment the work they’re doing in the classroom, in hopes of providing fodder for further conversation, growth and development.

The first two programs that we ran with these schools (highlighted in the photos below) focused on the overarching themes of “challenge” and “support” — when we are supported we’re more able to challenge ourselves, when we challenge ourselves we learn and grow. During these programs we took those themes of challenge and support and dove deeper into more individualized topics like positive self talk, kindness, learning from mistakes, positive risk taking and knowing that it’s okay to fail. Our hope is that these experiences will act as markers for the students when these same themes are brought up back in school and home.

Enjoy the pictures below and keep checking back throughout the year as we continue programming with Somerville. Happy fall!!