The Counselor Who Affords Hikes to College students As a substitute of Detention
Anybody who’s ever spent a day in detention is aware of the drill: a silent classroom, a packet of labor, and a trainer who would most likely fairly be anyplace else. At Morse Excessive Faculty in Bathtub, Maine, college counselor and Outing Membership advisor Leslie Trundy questioned if there was a greater means.
What if, as an alternative of sitting at a desk for 3 hours for detention, college students may spend two hours strolling by means of the woods with a trusted grownup—nonetheless serving a consequence but in addition getting contemporary air, reflection time, and connection?
That query led to Morse Excessive Faculty’s detention hikes—a weekly choice the place many college students now select a 3.5-mile hike on a close-by path over conventional detention. The thought has since been featured on Maine Public, NPR, and different retailers, sparking conversations amongst educators about self-discipline, psychological well being, and the facility of nature.
We spoke with college counselor Leslie Trundy about how this system began, what it seems to be like in apply, and what recommendation she has for lecturers who would possibly need to strive one thing related at their very own colleges. Check out our Q&A together with her. Plus get recommendation for tactics to start out your personal related program.
Q: What impressed you to start out providing hikes as a substitute for conventional detention?
Trundy: Within the fall of 2024, I used to be in my fourth 12 months as our college’s Outing Membership advisor, and I attended a management convention for advisors at Camp Mechuwana in Winthrop, Maine. My objective getting into was fairly easy: I needed to broaden my attain and invite college students who would possibly by no means see themselves as “outdoorsy” or be part of a membership like mine.
The convention occurred to fall on what would have been my mother’s 88th birthday. She was a particular schooling trainer who beloved the pure world. Once I was a child, she’d flip over logs so we may see what lived beneath and taught me find out how to decide up a garter snake. That curiosity stayed with me.
In my 20s, I thru-hiked the Appalachian Path from Georgia to Maine. It took six and a half months, and it was there that I made a decision to grow to be a faculty counselor. Strolling has all the time been the place I discover headspace. I’ve seen it work for my very own youngsters and for the scholars I tackle outings. So I began questioning: Might we take the idea of detention and transfer it outdoor? Might a stroll within the woods be a consequence that additionally heals? I knew it was value a strive.
Q: How did you pitch the thought to your college administration, and what was their response?
Trundy: I introduced it to our admin group throughout an everyday assembly. I defined what I needed to try to why—how I hoped time in nature would possibly assist college students mirror, join, and nonetheless “pay again” their time to the varsity.
Their response was speedy: “Do you need to begin this Thursday?”
By October 2024, the primary detention hike was scheduled. At Morse, college students who obtain a one-, two-, or three-hour detention can select a two-hour hike as an alternative. Most who decide in are serving a three-hour consequence—usually for having their cellphone exterior of its YONDR pouch, failing to serve a earlier detention, or being disrespectful to workers, property, or friends.
Q: What did these first hikes appear to be, and the way has the routine developed?
Trundy: The primary few hikes had been fantastic—and somewhat shorter than I anticipated. We had three to 5 college students, and I needed to shortly learn to gauge the group’s tempo and use completely different path loops to elongate or shorten the route.
We depart the highschool on foot, stroll all the way down to the ball fields, and enter the Whiskeag Path. The route crosses a street, passes by means of a cemetery, after which reenters the woods earlier than looping again to campus. I all the time carry a primary support package, snacks, and water, and I clarify the plan, the principles, and the place we’re headed.
As we stroll, college students usually begin speaking—about why they’re there, what’s happening of their lives, or simply common teenager stuff. Early on, one pupil got here on a second hike although he didn’t have detention. That’s once I knew one thing was taking place right here.
Q: How do college students reply earlier than, throughout, and after the hikes?
Trundy: Earlier than the hike, it actually is determined by their consolation stage with me and with being outdoor. Typically an administrator will introduce us first, and I stroll them by means of what to put on and produce so it feels much less intimidating.
Through the hike, I’m consistently scanning—Are they heat sufficient? Who’s hanging again? Who’s prepared to steer? I differ the tempo, separate the group briefly for quiet reflection when it is smart, and examine in with youngsters who appear withdrawn or upset. I all the time allow them to know I’ve first support, snacks, and water, and that they’re allowed to stroll in silence if speaking appears like an excessive amount of.
Afterward, everyone knows one another in a different way. We greet one another by identify within the hallway. There’s this shared reminiscence—like seeing a bald eagle, slipping on the primary snow, or how moist our footwear had been that day. I all the time thank them for strolling with me. Children usually thank me again.
Need to begin one thing related?
Trundy is fast to level out that what works in a wooded nook of Maine would possibly look completely different in a desert city, a dense metropolis, or a district with completely different insurance policies. However she believes the core thought—shifting some self-discipline from punitive to restorative and transferring it outdoor when doable—is adaptable.
Listed below are a few of her sensible suggestions for educators:
1. Begin together with your “who, what, the place, when, how.”
- Who: Determine which college students are eligible. At Morse Excessive Faculty, any pupil assigned a one-, two-, or three-hour detention can select the hike as an alternative, with father or mother permission.
- What: Make clear the construction. Trundy’s hikes are about two hours lengthy, roughly equal to a three-hour detention. College students stroll in teams, with clear norms round security, conduct, and respect for the setting.
- The place: Use what you’ve got. Their main route is the Whiskeag Path, however in icy situations, she typically leads a extra city stroll that also ends within the woods. For those who don’t have a forest close by, contemplate a secure loop round campus, a park, or neighborhood streets.
- When: Consistency helps. At Morse, detention hikes occur after college on Thursdays from about 2:05 to 4:00 p.m.
- How: Accomplice intently with admin. At Trundy’s college, directors inform households of the choice, monitor who’s attending, and make sure the hike is listed as an authorised technique to serve detention.
2. Get your security and logistics so as.
- Permissions: Discover out what your district requires for off-campus actions or “strolling discipline journeys.” Trundy makes use of a digital permission slip that covers taking college students off campus.
- Coaching: In Maine, Trundy holds an Instructional Journey Chief certification and Wilderness First Help, along with her coaching as a faculty counselor. Your context could not require as a lot, however ensure at the least one grownup is skilled in first support and conversant in the route.
- Gear: She retains a primary support package, snacks, water, ponchos, and spare hats and gloves for teenagers who come unprepared. College students are inspired to decorate in layers and put on closed-toe footwear, however she additionally gently affords further gear in the event that they’re chilly on the path.
- Group dimension: Speak with the admin a couple of secure student-to-adult ratio. If detention numbers are excessive, it’s possible you’ll want a second grownup or an assistant, or you’ll be able to cap every hike.
3. Be clear that it’s nonetheless a consequence—only a completely different sort.
Some critics fear that mountain climbing seems like a reward. Trundy understands the priority however says college students not often expertise it that means on a chilly, wet day. Typically the hike does really feel like a punishment—they’re expending effort, they’re drained, however they nonetheless really feel seen and supported. She frames the hike as:
- A technique to restore (by means of dialog, reflection, and displaying up)
- A technique to repay time to the varsity
- An opportunity to reset by means of motion and nature
4. Construct in small rituals: snacks, tales, and quiet.
You don’t need to be a poetry skilled to borrow Trundy’s thought of studying a brief nature-based poem partway by means of the hike. Conserving it easy issues greater than making it excellent. She additionally recommends:
- A predictable halfway break for water and snacks
- A quick, age-appropriate reflection (a poem, quote, or query)
- Occasional quick stretches of silent strolling
“Due to me, I hope extra youngsters spend extra time exterior.”
Trying forward, Trundy plans to proceed this system and preserve gathering information as the scholars who’ve hiked together with her transfer by means of highschool.
She’s already seen management develop: One sophomore who attended three detention hikes later joined the Outing Membership, grew to become a go-to chief on journeys, recruited mates, cooked meals, and even made her counselor’s mattress at a lake home retreat. One other pupil, a junior firefighter and avid mountain biker, ended up main the group on a brand new native path he knew properly.
“My hope is that due to this program, extra college students spend extra time outdoor—not simply in highschool, however for the remainder of their lives,” Trundy says. “If that grows out of a detention, I’ll take it.”
For those who’re an educator questioning whether or not your college students would ever say sure to one thing like this, Trundy has one final piece of recommendation:
“Don’t underestimate them. Give them the choice—after which see who reveals up on the trailhead.”
