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 in all probability somewhat be anyplace else. At Morse Excessive Faculty in Tub, Maine, faculty counselor and Outing Membership advisor Leslie Trundy puzzled if there was a greater approach.
What if, as an alternative of sitting at a desk for 3 hours for detention, college students may spend two hours strolling by way of the woods with a trusted grownup—nonetheless serving a consequence but additionally getting recent 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 concept has since been featured on Maine Public, NPR, and different retailers, sparking conversations amongst educators about self-discipline, psychological well being, and the ability of nature.
We spoke with faculty counselor Leslie Trundy about how this system began, what it seems like in observe, and what recommendation she has for academics who would possibly wish to attempt one thing related at their very own colleges. Check out our Q&A along with her. Plus get recommendation for methods to begin your personal related program.
Q: What impressed you to begin providing hikes as an alternative choice to conventional detention?
Trundy: Within the fall of 2024, I used to be in my fourth 12 months as our faculty’s Outing Membership advisor, and I attended a management convention for advisors at Camp Mechuwana in Winthrop, Maine. My purpose moving into was fairly easy: I wished to broaden my attain and invite college students who would possibly by no means see themselves as “outdoorsy” or be a 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 cherished the pure world. After I was a child, she’d flip over logs so we may see what lived beneath and taught me the right way 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 turn into a college counselor. Strolling has at all times been the place I discover headspace. I’ve seen it work for my very own children and for the scholars I tackle outings. So I began questioning: Might we take the idea of detention and transfer it outside? Might a stroll within the woods be a consequence that additionally heals? I knew it was price a attempt.
Q: How did you pitch the thought to your faculty administration, and what was their response?
Trundy: I introduced it to our admin group throughout a daily assembly. I defined what I wished to attempt to why—how I hoped time in nature would possibly assist college students replicate, join, and nonetheless “pay again” their time to the college.
Their response was speedy: “Do you wish 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 telephone exterior of its YONDR pouch, failing to serve a earlier detention, or being disrespectful to employees, property, or friends.
Q: What did these first hikes appear like, and the way has the routine developed?
Trundy: The primary few hikes have been fantastic—and a little bit shorter than I anticipated. We had three to 5 college students, and I needed to rapidly 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 highway, passes by way of a cemetery, after which reenters the woods earlier than looping again to campus. I at all times carry a primary support equipment, snacks, and water, and I clarify the plan, the foundations, 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 relies on their consolation stage with me and with being outside. Generally an administrator will introduce us first, and I stroll them by way of what to put on and produce so it feels much less intimidating.
In the course of 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 verify in with children who appear withdrawn or upset. I at all times allow them to know I’ve first support, snacks, and water, and that they’re allowed to stroll in silence if speaking looks like an excessive amount of.
Afterward, everyone knows one another in another 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 sneakers have been that day. I at all times 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 concept—shifting some self-discipline from punitive to restorative and shifting it outside when potential—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 surroundings.
- The place: Use what you could have. Their major route is the Whiskeag Path, however in icy circumstances, she generally leads a extra city stroll that also ends within the woods. If you happen to don’t have a forest close by, think about a protected loop round campus, a park, or neighborhood streets.
- When: Consistency helps. At Morse, detention hikes occur after faculty on Thursdays from about 2:05 to 4:00 p.m.
- How: Associate intently with admin. At Trundy’s faculty, directors inform households of the choice, observe who’s attending, and make sure the hike is listed as an permitted solution 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 Support, along with her coaching as a college counselor. Your context could not require as a lot, however be sure that at the least one grownup is educated in first support and acquainted with the route.
- Gear: She retains a primary support equipment, 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 sneakers, however she additionally gently affords further gear in the event that they’re chilly on the path.
- Group measurement: Discuss with the admin a couple of protected student-to-adult ratio. If detention numbers are excessive, chances are you’ll want a second grownup or an assistant, or you possibly can cap every hike.
3. Be clear that it’s nonetheless a consequence—only a completely different form.
Some critics fear that climbing appears like a reward. Trundy understands the priority however says college students hardly ever expertise it that approach on a chilly, wet day. Generally 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 solution to restore (by way of dialog, reflection, and exhibiting up)
- A solution to repay time to the college
- An opportunity to reset by way of motion and nature
4. Construct in small rituals: snacks, tales, and quiet.
You don’t should be a poetry skilled to borrow Trundy’s concept of studying a brief nature-based poem partway by way of the hike. Retaining 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 children spend extra time exterior.”
Wanting forward, Trundy plans to proceed this system and preserve gathering knowledge as the scholars who’ve hiked along with her transfer by way 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 nicely.
“My hope is that due to this program, extra college students spend extra time outside—not simply in highschool, however for the remainder of their lives,” Trundy says. “If that grows out of a detention, I’ll take it.”
If you happen to’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 exhibits up on the trailhead.”
