High Trails offers a diverse learning experience for each and every student once they step off those yellow buses into the heart of nature. Throughout the day students explore standard science content through our diverse classes using experiential learning and personal discovery that goes beyond any classroom. In the evenings they learn about the creatures that have awoken with the darkness and ponder the stars that link the generations. In the cabins afterwards they ascertain what it means to live in a shared space, which when you think globally,  is a very important lesson.

For me, I believe I still have one more chance to make an educational impact on my students; maybe the greatest impact one can have upon another… reading. Once the lights cease to shine, picking up a book and reading to your exhausted, half-asleep students can be a small guesture that opens a young mind to endless opportunities. 

Bryan Salyer

In one short week students up here learn much more than just the standard science content. By the time they’ve left, students have unknowingly learned the foundation of becoming a global citizen of Earth. I believe that literature should be a vital part of this foundation, and that we as instructors can demonstrate and emphasize the importance of reading by just taking the time to read a bedtime story to them.