No education is complete without Outward Bound.
NCOBS partners with many different schools, colleges and groups to bring the wilderness and the classroom together. We focus on the educational objectives and developmental needs of specific groups and can even design a unique program just for your group.
Partnering with North Carolina Outward Bound School guarantees you the expertise of the largest, oldest, most respected provider of outdoor education and experiential learning in the world. No one else offers wilderness education with the same commitment to character, craftsmanship, leadership development and safety.
Group Education Programs start at four days, however, we can design longer courses to meet your needs. A minimum number of participants is required. Call us,(866) 231-6262 or send us an e-mail, groups@ncobs.org to learn more about developing an Outward Bound course for your group.
You can read more about our group programs in articles posted in our News section.
Program Areas & Activities
We use the following course areas as our classrooms and the following activities as our vehicles for learning.
North Carolina Mountains
When: March - October
Activities: backpacking, rock climbing, rappelling, ropes course, whitewater canoeing and rafting, service projects.
Florida's Ten Thousand Islands
When: November - March
Activities: coastal canoeing, sea kayaking, service project.
North Carolina Outer Banks
We are not currently programing in the NC Outer Banks.
Patagonia
When: December - May
Activities: mountaineering, sea kayaking, backpacking, rock climbing, service project.
Your Community
When: All year
Activities: initiatives, service project, workshops.
Clients
Outward Bound works with many different groups. Below we offer a partial list of our clients:
Schools:
- Asheville School - Asheville, NC
- Atlanta Public Schools - Atlanta, GA
- Cannon School - Concord, NC
- Canterbury School - Fort Myers, FL
- Cape Fear Academy - Wilmington, NC
- Charlotte Latin School - Charlotte, NC
- Creative Learning Academy - Pensacola, FL
- Donegal High School - Mount Joy, PA
- Episcopal Academy - Newtown Square, PA
- Episcopal Day School - Augusta, GA
- Palmer Trinity School - Village of Palmetto Bay, FL
- Portor Gaud School - Charelston, SC
- Ransom Everglades School - Coconut Grove, FL
- Savannah Country Day School - Savannah, GA
- St. Mary's School - Raleigh, NC
- Evergreen Community Charter School - Asheville, NC
- Exploris Community Charter School - Raleigh, NC
- Greensboro College Middle College - Greensboro, NC
Groups:
- Camp Judaea - NC
- Camp Coleman, GA
- North Carolina Teaching Fellows
- UNC Chapel Hill - Student Government
Colleges:
- Furman University - Greenville, SC
- Warren Wilson College - Asheville, NC
- William Jewell College - Liberty, MO
Core Programs
Backpacking in the Blue Ridge Mountains
Our core Outward Bound experience is seven days in the North Carolina mountains, the birthplace of North Carolina Outward Bound School and a remarkable setting for a Group Education Program. Groups of up to 12 students explore Outward Bound's principles while living and traveling together through the stunning Blue Ridge Mountains. They gain the skills to take on increasingly difficult challenges such as rock climbing, whitewater canoeing, camping under the stars, making their on meals and off-trail navigation. Time is spent in solo reflection and environmental service. Before departing, students determine how to transfer lessons learned to their lives back home and set personal goals.
Courses
Leadership Course, Essentials Course, Environmental Service Course, Educator Course and Unity Project
Activities
Backpacking, rock climbing, rappelling, ropes course, whitewater canoeing, whitewater rafting, initiatives and workshops
Objectives
- Learn how to fit all of your gear into a 6,000 cubic-inch backpack.
- Conduct an off-trail expedition into wilderness areas and national forests using a map and compass.
- Study the local wildlife such as deer, falcons and raccoons.
- Practice Leave No Trace minimum-impact outdoor techniques.
- Learn proper climbing techniques by bouldering. Practice belaying techniques and learn to tie knots with craftsmanship.
- Develop teamwork and communication skills.
- Perfect paddling strokes practice ferries, catching eddies and peeling out.
- Explore the fundamentals of risk management on the river.
- Learn how to use a throw rope. Gain an understanding of how to read the river and classify rapids.
Environment and Leadership in the Ten Thousand Islands, FL
Florida's Ten Thousand Islands Nature Preserve and Everglades National Park offer a magical place within which to experience a North Carolina Outward Bound School Group Education Program - a place of glorious sunsets, abundant wildlife, remote wilderness and wide-open stretches of space. Expeditions travel by two person canoes, six person canoes or sea-kayaks. Some groups also hike or backpack through cypress strands and sawgrass sloughs.
In groups of ten, students paddle expedition style through mangrove tunnels, wilderness waterways and national preserves. Students strengthen self-confidence and develop leadership capabilities as they become more proficient in paddling, navigating and living together. The group explores environmental issues while sharing this remarkable ecosystem with dolphins, sea turtles and manatees. Students spend time in solo reflection on an isolated beach before embarking on a challenging final expedition back to dry land.
Courses
Leadership Course, Essentials Course, Environmental Service Course, Educator Course
Activities
Coastal canoeing, sea kayaking, backpacking, service work, initiatives and workshops
Objectives
- Develop your paddling technique while expeditioning through rivers, bays and warm Gulf waters.
- Monitor and forecast the weather. Learn to predict tidal changes and utilize your knowledge of ebbing, flooding, raging and slack tides.
- Learn to survey your surroundings for important landmarks, shoot a bearing with your compass and work with your crewmates to use a chart and determine your location.
- Improve teamwork, coorperation, problem-solving, self-discipline and communication skills.
- Practice Leave No Trace minimum-impact outdoor techniques.
- Practice your "wet exit" in warm, Gulf waters. Learn rescue techniques such as T-rescue, paddle float and Eskimo roll.
- Discover more about the rich cultural history of the area as you learn about the Calusa, Seminole and Miccosukee Native American tribes and other settlers who bravely ventured into this "last American frontier."
Expeditioning Through Patagonia, South America
Patagonia offers a truly spectacular environment within which to experience a North Carolina Outward Bound School Group Education Program. Expeditions take students through green temperate forests of Southern Chile/Argentina where native Patagonians live in and work or high into the Andes Mountains. Minimum number of days is 10 for a custom group course in Patagonia. Courses can include time doing service work with the local community.
In the varied terrain of the Cerro Tronador region, participants will hike alongside the blue-green waters of the Rio Blanco. Feed their eyes with endless stretches of sky, majestic snow-covered mountains, icy masses and shimmering lakes. Students may also meet local people and see ancient temperate rainforests as they explore routes through pristine river valleys. The group may also receive fresh supplies brought in on horseback by a "gaucho," a local horse rancher.
If service is part of the course, then the crew will work alongside locals during a service project such as building houses, digging potatoes and visiting local high schools. They will experience first hand the exchange that naturally happens when people from two cultures work alongside each other, even if they don't speak each other's language.
Courses
Leadership Course, Environmental Service Course
Activities
Mountaineering, backpacking, rock climbing, service work, initiatives and workshops
Objectives
- Learn the basics of backcountry travel and food preparation.
- Practice snow climbing, step kicking, ice-axe use and self-arrest.
- Travel in a rope team. Practice team glacier travel and crevasse rescue. Learn about crampons. Set up snow anchors and exercise craftsmanship as you tie and apply knots.
- Improve teamwork, coorperation, problem-solving, self-discipline and communication skills.
- Practice Leave No Trace minimum-impact outdoor techniques.
- Survey your surroundings for important landmarks. Shoot a bearing with your compass. Circle up around a chart to determine your location.
- Discover more about the rich cultural history of the area.
The Unity Project program empowers communities of young people to initiate compassionate social change.
A group of 12 students is selected to represent the diversity of their community. They then embark on a wilderness expedition designed to assert their common humanity, to develop their courage and compassion as leaders, to establish a democratic forum within which to discussion challenging issues and to create a model community of 12. Upon returning home the group organizes a series of projects designed to address issues affecting their community.
Format
A teacher, counselor or youth worker from your high school operates as coordinator, supporting students throughout the program. Comprehensive materials guide the coordinator through managing the program. Outward Bound delivers the wilderness course with or without the coordinator attending as an accompanying adult. Outward Bound community instructors can support Phase I and Phase III, depending on the needs of your school. We strongly recommend that every coordinator takes an Outward Bound Educator Course.
Backcountry Expedition
- Expedition travel (backpacking)
- Camping
- High impact activity (rock climbing, rappelling, ropes course, whitewater canoeing or rafting, night paddling)
- Group initiatives and discussions
- Solo reflection and journaling
- Service project
Objectives
The Unity Project is structured to achieve the following outcomes:
Compassionate Leadership: Participants discover and develop their potential to care for themselves, others and the world around them.
Community Building: Participants construct a model community for themselves.
Diversity Awareness: Participants increase awareness of stereotyping and discrimination in their community and in their own actions and beliefs.
Moral Courage: Participants develop the courage to challenge and change actions or beliefs in order to create a more just and inclusive community.
Action for Social Change: Participants organize community projects that address issues of diversity and social justice.
Phase I: Recruitment and Preparation
Students are recruited to represent the diversity of their school or youth group and the wider community. Preparation occurs by community-building within the group, introducing students to diversity issues, briefing students for their wilderness course and getting physically fit.
Phase II: Wilderness Course
High school students undertake a seven-day wilderness course. During this time, students develop personal qualities they need to become community leaders and create a learning culture within which issues of diversity and social justice can be positively addressed. This community of 12 offers a model from which students can analyze their community back home and imagine a more inclusive and just future.
Phase III: Community Projects
Upon returning home to their schools or youth groups, students organize and participate in community projects that apply their new skills and initiate meaningful social change. A workbook assists students in managing social change.
