Waypoint’s longest standing program partnership has a new face: 9 students from Gordon College’s Wilderness Immersion & Leadership Development (W.I.L.D.) program have stepped up to practice their facilitation on a series of teambuilding and adventure programs with a 6th-8th grade class from the Mario Umana Academy in East Boston. It’s Waypoint’s 6th year in the Umana Academy’s Special Education department providing access to quality outdoor adventures and custom-designed, goal focused curricula. Through the guidance of our program team, Gordon’s WILD students are working through a tried-and-true Self-Determination unit and are rocking it!

Last week, we practiced making “self-determined decisions” by navigating through a mystery grid of dots and this week at the Middlesex Fells, students had to make decisions on the rock while experiencing the challenge of climbing! For all of us, it was one of those days that reminded us of the importance of facing challenges head on. The Umana students chose to challenge themselves in big ways and all of them walked away a little taller… and rightly so. They deserve every bit of confidence that they gained!

Check out pictures from the start to an awesome series and the video below.

Theme Review: Making Decisions when posed with a Challenge