Making Connections

It is important to us that the Rocky Mountain Semester is not an isolated experience in our students' lives. Our goal is to provide them with a framework for learning that will serve them well wherever they go in future years. This framework consists of three central tenets which we believe define the well-educated person: a core of basic knowledge; disciplined habits of mind; and perhaps most importantly, a life-long curiosity and delight in learning more about ourselves and the world that so richly surrounds us.

Throughout the semester, we provide continuing opportunities for our students to integrate these essential tenets into a productive and compelling learning experience. The faculty highlights the connection between what students learn in the wilderness, what they learn in the traditional classroom, and how they might apply this knowledge to their home schools and beyond.

While traveling in the mountains and canyons, students must work together to develop problem-solving skills. They practice essential communication and team building skills as they resolve whose turn it is to set up the tarp, cook dinner, or plot the direction of the next day's journey. 

The wilderness simply provides irresistible teaching opportunities. That is why Rocky Mountain Semester academic classes also continue in the backcountry. Learning about the places we visit gives pertinence to intellectual topics. Often, content is the same as is covered in home school classrooms, but the presence of examples right in front of us provides for deeper understanding.

Science classes transform a field of wildflowers into a lesson on high alpine ecology. History students study early American cultures in the shadow of Anasazi ruins. An English assignment-Wallace Stegner's Pulitzer Prize winning novel Angle of Repose-comes alive when read outside of Leadville, where the novel is set. Although the classrooms might look different, academic classes taught on expeditions maintain the same rigorous standards as on-campus classes.

At the Rocky Mountain Semester, we think the combination of wilderness and academics provides a rich opportunity for turning the learning experience into a joyous, life-long process.