Far from the back-to-school rush, Animas High School’s junior class spent the first 2½ days of school in the mountains doing orientation activities. The students’ main assignment was to spend 24 hours alone in the woods without books, electronics or other gadgets, not even a flashlight.
The solo trip, combined with introduction and debriefing activities, is a new experience crafted especially for the school’s junior class, Animas’ first since it was established two years ago. The goal is to encourage students to look inward as they embark on their final two years of high school, said AHS Head of School Michael Ackerman.
“As they start junior year, they’re into internships and college applications, and they’re out there figuring out the next step for themselves,” Ackerman said. “(The solo trip) is a very tangible ritual for students to mark the transition between thinking about the community and thinking about their individual journey.”
The students ventured out into the woods around Colvig Silver Camps east of Durango on the evening of Aug. 22, armed with a tarp, food and water.
They had a few journaling and reflection assignments, but for the most part, the time was a rare opportunity for students to be alone and think about their lives and the upcoming school year, said Jason St. Mary, a mentor and consultant who coordinated the trip for Animas High.
While making rounds among the students, St. Mary said he saw students singing, creating structures out of plants and rocks and building different housing structures with their tarps.
“Their creativity really comes out when there’s nothing else to do,” he said.
Hannah Williams said she took the time to write and think about past decisions. With nothing else to do, the reflections came more naturally, she said.
The students also connected the experience to the upcoming school year.
“It afforded us a chance to be self-sufficient and take matters into our own hands, and that’s going to be important as juniors with college and internships,” said Cooper Stowers. “Now you’re taking charge for what is going to happen in your future.”
ecowan@durangoherald.com
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Animas High School junior Shawntell Stiner, 17, emerges from the woods after spending 24 hours alone during a wilderness solo experience at Colvig Silver Camps. The experience is a time for juniors to start focusing on their individual paths toward college. “We look at this as a year for them stepping out on their own,” Assistant Head of School Jake Lauer said. Stiner is the daughter of John and Cheryl Vogel.
Juniors Ryan Maloney, 17, left, and Cooper Stowers, 16, help secure a tarp as rain falls at Colvig Silver Camps. The junior class spent the first 2½ days of school at the camp doing orientation activities. Maloney is the son of Tom Maloney and Sharla Dyar, and Stowers is son of Mick and Bridget Stowers.
