Eighth Graders Expand Their Horizons Through Experiential Education Trips

AN EIGHTH-GRADE PECK EXPERIENCE begins not behind the stone walls of Lindenwold Mansion or even on the lush green grass of the quad—but out in the wilderness. Surrounded by crisp fall air with leaves crunching beneath their feet, members of the Class of 2022 began their culminating year roasting marshmallows around a campfire and stepping outside their comfort zones while learning to depend on one another.

Fast forward seven months, and those same students are amidst the bustling crowds on Pennsylvania Avenue, biking through the cherry blossoms, and sailing off into the sunset on the Potomac.

The graduating year of a student’s Peck experience is intentionally bookended with two experiential education trips. The trips, different in both scope and purpose, provide critical opportunities for students to practice independence, collaboration, and teamwork.

In the fall, the Class of 2022 enjoyed a day trip to Fairview Lakes in Stillwater Township, NJ where they participated in trust building activities, ropes courses, and a scenic hike.

Eighth-Grade Lead Teacher and Peck alumna Virginia Savage ’05 said the main focus of the fall trip is authentic connection for the classmates as part of the smaller micro-community of advisory.

“When eighth graders start the year, it’s natural to feel a bit apprehensive. They imagine these overarching expectations about what eighth grade is supposed to be and what their individual responsibilities are,” she said.

“Getting away from campus almost immediately in service of something so radically different from the day-to-day school experience reminds us that we have community connections beyond academics. Any adventure reinforces a bond that buttresses students against the very real stress points of application season and middle school life. It generates memories they can draw upon later in the year. It feels really good to solidify those connections with your advisory and your advisor in a setting where we’re all expected to be a little more vulnerable.”

Savage, who fondly recalled her own eighth-grade fall outdoor education trip, said the aspect of students going without creature comforts results in a tremendous amount of pride by the end of the trip.

“It’s about setting the tone for your advisory: we are a unit that looks out for one another, we are a unit that takes risks, we are a unit that laughs with one another, and we are a unit that notices when somebody actually needs a hand reached out to them to pull them up,” Savage said.

After a year of learning, growing, and bonding, Savage said the spring trip to Washington DC, which has curricular ties to the students’ study of the United States Government and U.S. History, is meant more as a culminating class bonding experience. It marks the beginning of the end of the eighth graders’ final year at 247 South Street.

“DC is really more about a celebration of where they are now and how far we’ve come since the fall,” she said. “It’s our first major celebration of all the fun events in the spring.”

“The most memorable part of my trip was traveling and sharing rooms with my friends and peers,” said Morgan Edell ’22. “I think we all grew together and made amazing memories.”