This is a new MWS course offering for 2023!
This season, we’ll be offering an expedition in the stunning Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument for older students - those entering grades 11 - Graduating Seniors. Students will travel through historical lands of the Blackfeet, Gros Ventre, and Assiniboine peoples for 12 days, navigating over 100 miles of wild and scenic river made famous by the Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery in 1805. The course area is rich in both human and geological history, and students will have the opportunity to camp and come together to cook meals at riverside sites that have been used for hundreds of years.
In addition to learning about expedition canoeing, river safety and rescue techniques, students will spend time exploring their own personal leadership styles and practice making travel and community decisions as a group. A team of experienced instructors will engage the student group in discussions about Native History, local ecology, and current land & conservation issues in Montana. Team members will be challenged to think critically, work across differences to solve problems, and grow as collaborative leaders. In tandem with this curriculum, students will have plenty of time to simply be in a wild place, and to develop personal connections with the natural world around them. Each student will have multiple opportunities to lead the group as the Expedition Leader of the Day to gain experience with newly acquired leadership skills. By the end of the course, the student group will take on most of the expedition leadership with consistent instructor support - valuable experience for planning their own wild adventures in the future!
Other course curricula will include: map and compass navigation, cooking &eating well in the backcountry, Leave No Trace® land stewardship principles, and advanced campcraft. For more information about MWS core curriculum and expedition progression, check out Expedition Life.
