Branson will launch an outdoor education program in partnership with the company Outward Bound that, starting next summer, will be included in sophomore orientations each year.

“It will be a five-day backpacking trip, leading right up into the start of school … and it will happen over the course of a couple weeks,” said Peter Zdrojewski, science teacher and freshman dean. “More than likely, we will bring 40 students out on one trip and do another trip with 40 more students.”

Although there have been instances of hiking clubs and small overnight trips, Branson has never had a robust outdoor education program, though a forthcoming book on Branson’s history says a hiking club called the Vagabonds began in 1925, Zdrojewski said. 

This past summer, Branson offered a trial run as a start-up for outdoor education. Fourteen students from the current sophomore and junior grades attended the four-night, five-day trip to Courtright Reservoir in the Sierra Nevadas. Zdrojewski attended this trip as a Branson staff member, along with Whitney Livermore, Karl Schmidt and Caroline Santinelli.

“Some had backpacking experience and some didn’t — it was neat having that mix,” Zdrojewski said. “It was a great way for us to see what was going to come down the road, get more familiar with Outward Bound, figure out any changes we wanted to make and put those into action.”

According to Branson’s website, the introduction of outdoor education at Branson is part of its strategic plan to align the Branson experience with the school’s core values. A section of the strategic plan details character and leadership; outdoor education is one of the embodiments of the plan.

The outdoor education trip is the official sophomore orientation and will be required for all incoming sophomore students. The only exceptions that will be accepted for missing the trip include weddings, funerals, graduations or a documented medical condition. Expenses for the trip will be covered by the school. Fall athletics will not be affected by the trip, which will be mandatory for athletes.

The destinations for trips moving forward have not yet been determined. 

“The plan is to go to the High Sierras, which is a big wilderness,” Zdrojewski said. Destinations “really will depend on weather, permits and staffing. There is a good chance we might end up at Courtright Reservoir again.”

Not all students will travel together on the trip. Outward Bound emphasizes very intimate hiking groups within the roughly 40 students. Hiking groups will consist of about 10 Branson students, one Branson employee and two Outward Bound leaders.

Different groups will have different experiences in terms of physical location, but the overall experience will be essentially the same.

“When you arrive, you get your gear and split off in opposite directions,” Zdrojewski said. “You won’t see the other groups for five days.”

For now, outdoor education trips will not be offered to current sophomore, junior or senior students. Factors such as the academic calendar, weather and permits present a challenge that prevents multiple grades from going in one year.

Branson originally planned to start this program earlier than 2022, but the pandemic delayed the creation of the initiative.

Outdoor education trips present benefits such as “challenging oneself and allowing students and staff to discover their true potential,” Zdrojewski said. “The real power of this type of program is expanding the possibilities that a young person might think is possible.”

Shail Belani, a junior, attended the trip this past August.

“I really branched out in ways I wasn’t expecting myself to,” he said. “I formed bonds with people and opened up to people about my personal experiences and opinions in ways that I don’t normally do. I feel like I became more resilient to tangible adversities that include weather.”

The trip as a whole is very student driven. Two leaders are selected each day to lead the group, set hiking goals, decide direction and determine meals, among other things. 

“It was quite difficult [to lead the group] because the only thing we had for navigation was a map,” Belani said. “I found it challenging but in the end I found it rewarding and I also improved my directional skills. It was also fun to take control of our own trip and have a say in what we do.”

Livermore, a history teacher and sophomore dean, praised the benefits of the trip.

“Any time you go through a new experience that is different from your daily life,” she said. “It changes the nature of the relationships with each other.”

An experienced backpacker, Livermore said she could see students in a new light and in a different setting from the Branson campus. 

“It was great to see Branson students … doing very different activities than I would normally do with them,” she said. “I enjoyed the fun and funny bonding time because we were in a unique situation and there weren’t many other distractions. I could really enjoy the company of the people.”

Alexandra Zak, a junior, shared her highlights from the trip.

“My favorite part of the whole trip was definitely becoming closer with the people in my hiking group — we navigated trails together, cooked meals together, did basically everything with each other and our instructors and teachers (shoutout to Mr. Z and Ms. Livermore!!),” Zak wrote in an email.

“Outdoor ed trips are definitely something I would recommend to anyone considering going, even if they’re unsure or nervous about the idea — maybe even especially if they’re unsure or nervous, because pushing yourself outside your comfort zone and outside of what you know for sure you are capable of is what makes [it] such a great experience,” she said.