21^st Century Skills has been a buzzword circulating the educator community for over ten years.  In 2011 bipartisan legislation, the 21^st Century Readiness Act, was introduced to Congress to support state and local innovation around 21^st century readiness initiatives.  More and more, schools are reflecting the need for 21^st Century Skills in their school missions.  Last week, a multifaceted group of 200 education experts, school principals, leaders of industry, and other national organizations, all dedicated to the education of our country’s youth, gathered in our nation’s capital to support and promote 21^st Century Skills at The Summit on 21^st Century Learning presented by the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills.

21^st Century Skills.  I’m sure you have seen it enough now to wonder, “What are 21^st Century Skills?  And, why should I care?”

Well, that is a great question.

“Between 1999 and 2003, there was more new knowledge created in the world than in the entire history of the world preceding “, stated Dr Linda Darling-Hammond as the opening remark to The Summit on 21st Century Learning last week, “Students will be working with knowledge that hasn’t been invented yet, to solve problems that we can hardly envision, using technologies that don’t yet exist!”  We are living in a changing world, changing so rapidly that our traditional methods of educating children is no longer as effective as it once was.  We can no longer expect students to simply mimic back information and expect them to succeed in college, careers or life.  Our goal for education needs to shift from outcome goals to learning goals, and this is where 21^st Century Skills learning comes into the discussion.

Last week I had the distinct pleasure of representing Adventure Treks at the Summit on 21^st Century Learning in Washington DC.  Surrounded by the best and brightest minds in education today, the importance of this forward-thinking movement and the energy behind it became vividly clear.  Successful education is no longer exclusively about teaching students what to think and learn, it is teaching them how to think and learn.  While we can still lead with content, teaching students to think critically, to innovate, to collaborate, to be creative, to think critically, to communicate, and how to learn is the key to future success.  As a society we need to be intentional about ensuring this deeper learning happens for our children.  It is the best way to adequately prepare every young person for the uncertain future.

Students enjoying a fun teambuilding game.

As the Educational Director, I am excited to see the same energy here, at Adventure Treks on a daily basis, that I saw at the Summit on 21^st Century Learning last week.  The Adventure Treks team is passionate about not only providing every Adventure Treks student with the experience of a lifetime, but facilitating an experience that will benefit them for their lifetime.  We believe it is important to take the unique opportunity we have with young people in the outdoors and to prepare the next generation for future success.  Adventure Treks activities, by nature, asks students to practice 21^st Century Skills.  For example, while setting up a campsite students must:

• Think critically about ensuring proximity to water while still choosing a safe location.
• Collaborate to set up tents and come up with a plan for the rest of the evening.
• Communicate the evening plan from choosing the campsite, to setting up tents, to getting water, to starting dinner, to enjoying each other’s company around the campfire.
• Innovate with traditional kitchen skills to apply them to the camp setting while cooking dinner.
• Be creative during fun evening games, activities and entertainment.

Students celebrating getting to the top of the mountain in Alaska.

Many times students are having so much fun they don’t even realize the lessons learned until they return home and are put into familiar school or social situations again.

As we look forward to next summer, we aim to be even more intentional in fostering life lessons and 21^st Century Skills to every Adventure Treks student.  We hope to do our part in supporting this important shift in educational thought, but more importantly, we want to support our students in reaching their future goals.  We are fortunate that Adventure Treks has the unique opportunity to subtly build these skills in an environment that, first and foremost, facilitates lifetime friendships and is incredibly fun!

Thanksgiving is just a few days away and this year I am grateful for the fun times I have shared with students, having had the opportunity to be a positive influence on their lives, and, in the process, learning just as much from them as I hope they have learned from me.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours,

Neil Rudis
Educational Director

A beach backpacking trip taking a break to play some baseball!

We are finishing our first round of trips and getting ready to open our remaining 8 adventures. I’m writing this from a Jet bound from Seattle to NC to visit our Blue Ridge Adventure and Camp Pinnacle kids. I’ve spent the past few days with our Alaska 2 students, our British Columbia 1 students, and our Leadership Summit students, the latter are our oldest (many 4 and 5 year AT veterans.)

What is apparent to me is how much our students are being affected by their AT experience and how their achievements (both social and physical) are building the confidence and other skills that will help them later in life. Meanwhile, they are simply having a great time with friends, enjoying nature and finding an escape from their busy lives.

As parents, we all want our kids to be successful. The definition of what defines success varies from family to family. Often we correlate success with income. Living in poverty does make one less likely to be happy but after a comfortable level of income, all the research demonstrates that wealth alone is not a predictor of happiness. So, if ultimately we decide it’s more important for our kids to become happy adults than rich adults, then we may find other outcomes in which to steer our kids towards. We believe that happiness is better correlated with having the ability to pursue ones interests, having a large degree of control over the direction of one’s life, feeling that one’s energy and efforts make a difference in the lives of others, and being able to contribute to something greater than self. Having a large network of friends, and a close family are also key indicators.

So, at Adventure Treks we are working to help our students grow in ways that correlate highest with the outcomes listed above. We believe (and research supports) that the key skills kids need to reach these outcomes are social achievement, optimism, self – esteem and resilience. While some kids do have a genetic predisposition to these traits, the great thing is that these are for the most part not innate traits but skills which can be learned, practiced and improved. We feel the Adventure Treks program is uniquely suited to help students practice and develop these aptitudes.

Research by Christine Carter has shown that a person’s happiness is best predicted by the breadth and depth of their social connections. Our outdoor environment and strong community focus makes Adventure Treks a fantastic place to improve social achievement or the ability to form and maintain relationships (a 2010/11 UNH Study on Social Achievement in the outdoors showed Adventure Treks significantly improved teens social achievement scores.)

High self – esteem has also been a great predictor of success. The world went a bit askew, however, when this was discovered. Folks thought that if every kid was constantly told they were great, they would have high self-esteem. It didn’t work. (Except for the trophy industry.) Praise only works when it’s earned. And, it’s always best to praise kids for working hard rather than for being smart or talented. Kids who are praised for working hard are more eager to try even harder the next time, while kids who are praised for being smart are less likely to try hard because if they fail, then they will ”no longer be considered smart.”

Students work together to hike to beautiful mountain lakes in Colorado.

An optimistic outlook on life is said to be a bigger predictor of success than IQ. Resilience ties in with optimism in that both give one the ability to feel that you have an element of control over your life. If you know that you will rise above whatever life throws you. And that you can eventually solve most any problem that comes your way. (Usually through hard work and some help from your friends), you are more likely to have the confidence to pursue your chosen path. Having fun in a rainstorm, when you haven’t had a shower for a week while hiking uphill in the mud is a great way to build resilience. Many places might call this torture. At AT, we make it fun!

Our goal at AT is to help kids discover the tools to succeed. First off, we are not miracle workers. 16 days at Adventure Treks won’t give you a resilient kid, if he or she was not before. We know we begin with great kids in the first place. We also know from the success of our students and the credits they send our way, that what we do is working!

Here is a model from Harvard Psychologist; Edward Hallowell that best describes why Adventure Treks works. Disclaimer – we developed, tweaked and re-tweaked our program first, this model just happens to fit. Of course, having a leading Harvard Child psychologist and noted author build a model that correlates well with what Adventure Treks does, makes us smile!

Connections – Play – Practice – Mastery – Recognition

For kids to grow, it is most effectively done when they are in a safe place. And that begins with feeling a huge sense of connection, like a functional family. At Adventure Treks, the focus especially in the early days of a trip is to lay the groundwork for a good community. We get to know our students, make them feel comfortable and let them know we care about both their experience and their success. This creates the comfort level that gives them the space to grow. Removing them from society without electronics and having a 1:4 instructor to student ratio helps the community evolve safely, quickly and in the directions we intend.

At Adventure Treks, we begin by letting our students take a break from the pressures of school and give them an opportunity to actually “play.” Kids don’t play much anymore. Compared to past generations, our kids are “stressed out and pressured.” But we play hard at AT and create an environment that is very conducive to having fun and making new friends. Spare time is filled with zany, fun games. Without electronics or electricity; creativity soars. And of course AT is filled with activities that are exciting, fun and challenging. When kids feel comfortable and are having a lot of fun – the groundwork for growth has been laid.

Confidence comes from competence and in a time in history when kids have lots of intellectual talent but fewer hands on skills, we give our students that chance to learn many new abilities. From setting up a tent, to cooking, to identifying trees, to learning how to canoe; Students quickly gain new skills in a large variety of areas. These new competencies build real confidence because our students have genuinely accomplished something. Learning many new things and succeeding beyond expectations magnifies growth. Kids “Practice” new skills with instructor direction and coaching until they reach a level of competence that approaches Hallowell’s “Mastery.”

Next is recognition and praise. Our hat presentations are a vehicle where students are publicly praised in front of their peers for their accomplishments. During our nightly evening meetings, students and instructors “plus” or compliment each other. By appropriately recognizing accomplishments, we are building real self – esteem based off of the real successes of our students.

A group of students swimming in the gorgeous Shasta Trinity Alps of Northern California.

As our trips conclude, I get to debrief with many of our students. Again and again I hear the real pride our students feel after successfully completing Adventure Treks.  Most of their friends stayed home.  Our students took a risk and succeeded beyond  expectations. From summiting mountains, to making friends, to flying across the country solo, to going a week without a shower, to thriving without electronics, to contributing to the success of a group and feeling like an integral part of the communities success… All of these major accomplishments are small steps towards building the skills our students will rely on later in life.

Thank you for sharing such wonderful young people with us. I am constantly amazed but never surprised at how fantastic our Adventure Treks students are!

– Dock