Fund-A-Need

Item Description

The Big Finish of Lower School is the annual trip to the Mountain Institute. According to the Mountain Institute web site, “The Appalachian Program focuses on developing an understanding and appreciation for the complex interaction between community, culture, and conservation through education and sustainable community initiatives…We believe that bringing students outdoors to experience true hands-on experiential education is one of the best ways for students to learn about themselves, their peers, and their environment. Sir John Lubbock, the 19th century British Biologist, said it best: ‘Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.’”

 

The Mountain Institute Trip features:

• Group Dynamics: Games and mixer activities immediately engage the students in active learning about each other, their instructors, and their course.
• Team Development: Group initiatives promote cooperation, communication, trust, decision making, problem solving, and leadership development.
• Geology: Learn about the geologic history of the Appalachians.  Hike to the top of Spruce Knob for a bird's eye view of ancient tectonic activity and current rock layers.
• Orienteering and Hiking to Spruce Knob: A view from the top! Learn map & compass land navigation and work together to find the highest point in West Virginia.
• Astronomy:  On clear nights, students explore the night sky using the naked eye, binoculars, and our observatory’s telescope.  We have access to one of the darkest skies in the east: a real treat for astronomers of any experience level.

 Other possible activities (weather dependent) include:

• Beaver Pond Ecology: Follow the waterways to find traces of beaver activity and discover clues about a beaver’s lifestyle.
• Stream Ecology:  Study a pristine mountain stream in the headwaters of the Potomac or Mississippi River.  Learn to sample physical, chemical, and biological properties of the stream and why water quality is important to human and environmental health.  Single and multi-day watershed education experiences are offered.
• Nocturnal Explorations: Explore the night with games, hikes, and discovery activities.
• Canoeing:  Students may explore the Greenbrier, Delaware, or Potomac River on multi-day canoe trips.  Alternatively, students can relax on the calm waters of nearby Spruce Knob Lake.
• Caving: Learn about West Virginia's colorful subterranean ecology, geology, and history in an undeveloped cave. After a brief lesson in the grotto, we'll follow Gandy Creek as it winds through the cave for 3/4 of a mile. This cave offers large passageways and is an excellent first time cave!

Support one North Hills Campus student on the Mountain Institute Trip: $200

Item Special Note

Fund-a-Needs are programs at WT, taken directly from the operating budget and capital campaign, that make WT an enriching experience. Your support of our teachers’ ideas and innovations provide daily inspiration for our students.

As we push toward the Big Finish for Celebrate WT: Campaign for a Smart Future, many of this year’s Fund-A-Needs focus on the “Big Finishes” at WT.