High School Outdoor Pursuits Course
The main units of study include canoeing, camping, hiking, biking, orienteering, fitness & leadership, snowshoeing, conservation & stewardship, knots & lashes, winter camping and ecology.
For many of the students, this is their first experience in these outdoor pursuits and they are finding them all to be truly enriching activities.
I happened upon a group just as they were preparing to launch the canoes on the river by the waterfront park in Andover.
Instructor Kris Gallagher was in charge of the group, helping the kids get situated and giving pointers on staying straight, adjusting trim and paddling techniques. He says that he particularly enjoys the canoeing and water safety courses…that seeing kids go from trepidation at getting into a tippy canoe to near mastery is always a treat!
He jokes with the kids that, as Canadians, we might feel like we were born to c’nu, but there’s a big difference between c’nuin and paddling. And at the end of the course, they know just what he means!
Stephanie Kelley
