Trails Carolina has just revamped one of its classrooms and increased resources to further assist students in learning. The classroom’s location was chosen because it’s also on a field where the students can play. This is part of the Trails Carolina Wilderness Therapy Program’s guiding philosophies: reinforcing skills in a variety of environments, inside and outside.
Not Just A New Classroom
The program has also expanded its library. Trails Carolina believes in doing whatever it takes to set its students up for success. The new classroom along with the upgraded library, will surely help motivate students and give them what they need to get good grades.
The program is interested in promoting learning and development on a wide range of topics and inspiring their naturally curious nature. Due to this, the library expansion included more academic resources as well as non-academic.
A Revolutionary Approach To Learning
At Trails Carolina, they work inside and outside the traditional classroom. This gives students a diverse range of skills across different environments of everyday life.
Trails Carolina uses a combination of rigorous academics, clinical excellence alongside a challenging wilderness experience to get the great results they achieve. “Our combination of traditional classroom settings and experiential opportunities helps set our students up for success,” says Kyle Shepard, Experiential Education Director.
They create a real classroom experience through small class sizes. Trails Carolina also splits classes into same-sex groups and similar age groups because this allows students to concentrate better and form stronger bonds and friendships.
This helps students make the transition back to traditional school in a way that they’re excited to attend and have the necessary social skills and coping mechanisms. In fact, after attending the Trails Carolina Wilderness Program, students have the knowledge and skills for interacting and building healthy connections in the future.
Which Students Do Trails Carolina Help?
Trails Carolina has therapy groups available for people from the ages of 10-17. Their clinically proven methods of combining real classroom learning with wilderness challenges and therapy can help students overcome many challenges.
The Trails Carolina Wilderness Program is exceptionally good at helping students dealing with anxiety, depression, family conflict, low self-esteem, trauma, social isolation, and self-harm. The program also benefits students who refuse to go to school, have learning differences, or receive poor academic achievement.
The outdoor therapy component of the program is a great catalyst for behavioral change. At the same time, students will get the clinical expertise they need to support them through this sensitive time in their lives. The real classroom experience gives the students all they need to transition after they graduate so that they look forward to school.
Does The Trails Carolina Wilderness Program Work?
Trails Carolina has partnered with the Arkansas Institute of Developmental Science and the Center for Research, Assessment, and Treatment Efficacy (CReATE; Asheville, NC) to assess the impact of the Trails Carolina Wilderness Program. The students and families report a significant change in symptoms and behavior, even one year after they graduate.
The figures speak for themselves and demonstrate how effective this wilderness program is with its blend of outside activity and more traditional classroom-style learning which boosts the students’ learning capability and desire to succeed. One year after graduating, 96% of students demonstrated a decrease in externalizing behaviors, and 93% displayed a decrease in rule-breaking behaviors.
These figures are compelling and can be put down to the innovative approach to learning in a different setting that inspires and motivates students. Coupled with the new classroom and additional learning resources, the Trails Carolina Wilderness Program looks like it will keep up this success rate if not improve it even further.
