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Adventure, Experiential, and Environmental Education Programs at Sheridan School Mountain Campus The Mountain Campus offers schools a wide variety of experiences for overnight stays 2 to 5 days in length. Students sleep on bunk beds in platform tents, eat in our dinning hall, and participate in activities on the campus, in the National Park, and in surrounding National Forests. Why Choose us?
We offer a range of programs for schools from: teambuilding and adventure activities (that help advance a class's unity) to more science and teaching based programs (that help advance a class's curriculum). Either way, we work with teachers to custom design their programs by select activities and initiatives to ensure a successful group experience. Here are some of the activities: |
| Initiatives and Games I |
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Challenges and initiatives designed to work on a groups interpersonal dynamics. Challenges often take place on our athletic field or within the forest. |
| Initiatives and Games II |
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Individually challenging elements like the peanut butter pit, wagon wheel, spider's web and more will help bring your group successfully together. |
| Cooperative Challenges | Activities that break up larger groups into teams of 3 and 4. Challenges help each group examine and develop the way they work together | |
| Rock Climbing and Rappelling |
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Explore the ragged intricacies of Elizabeth's Furnace, Raven's Rock or other local crags with individual challenges and goal setting-all while giving and receiving support from your group. |
| Climbing Wall |
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Challenge yourself by climbing and rappelling on our 40 foot climbing and rappelling wall. Difficulty, skills, and responsibility based on groups age and maturity. |
| Zip Line |
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Challenge yourself on the postman's walk and take an exhilarating ride on our 500 foot zip line. |
| Giant Swing |
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Using your team, participants are lifted back in a giant swing until they want to stop. They then release themselves and YEE-HAW! |
| Caving Expeditions |
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Explore the wet darkness of a mysterious cave, support your peers, see bats and other cave creatures and learn about cave ecology and local geology. we have a few different caves for different ages and abilities. |
| Appalachian Trail Trek |  |
Backpack, hike and canoe along the United States' well-known Appalachian Trail while exploring the history of the area. |
| Canoe Trips |
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We select the river difficulty based on age and ability. 4th grade + (more rapids available for older grades). Experience the beautiful Shenandoah River on a day or overnight canoe trip. |
| Backpacking Expeditions |
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Junior High and above. Bring your group closer together by spending a few days in the back woods of the Shenandoah National Park. Explore the natural beauty of the area, and see your group work together to set up a campsite and cook on a backpacking stove. |
| Jeremy's Run Hike |  |
Hike along a beautiful trout filled mountain stream and if the weather permits swim in this natural swimming hole. |
| Orienteering I | Grades 4th, 5th and sometimes 6th. Great as a night hike for grades 7th +. Offers compass courses around the Mountain Campus | |
| Orienteering II | 6th-8th grade. Map and compass course. Students start with the basics and use their compasses to decode a map - measuring distance and direction. They then put their decoded map into practice over a challenging course. | |
| Orienteering III |
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Recommended for High School or advanced 7th/8th graders. Advanced map, compass, and topography course. Participants are taught the basics, blindfolded, driven off campus to an unknown location, and then must find their way home. |
| Knob Mountain Group Expeditions |  |
Good for older students 7th - 12th. Learn navigational and map reading skills and challenge your groups mental and physical limits on an expedition to the top of Knob Mountain. |
| Shenandoah Explorations |
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Explore Shenandoah Valley, visit local sites and learn about history with a special tour package designed especially for your group./font> |
| Pond Study |
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Great for students of all ages. Students collect and examine pond life in and around the Mountain Campus ponds |
| Animals and Adaptations | Favorite for grades 3rd - 6th. This course combines active learning games with semi-classroom / nature center learning. The staff's constructivist teaching approach draws students into discussion about physical and behavioral adaptations, while playing games, being skull detectives, and working with the animals in our Nature Center. | |
| Geology and Karst Topography | This course is adaptable for grades 4th - 7th. It examines the theory of plate tectonics, the development of the Appalachian Mountains, and the Karst region here in Virginia. This may include a trip to a small area cave | |
| Instincts for Survival | An awesome predator - prey relationships games. Students are divided into groups of herbivores, omnivores and carnivores, and then must try to survive by finding hiden water, food, or other prey. | |
| Creative Nature Writing | Students create their own short story by collecting words over the course of a hike. | |
| Tree Study | For grades 4th - 6th. A look at the insides and outsides of trees and the niches they fill. | |
| Pura Aqua | For grades 4th - 7th. A look at water systems, quality, and the effect on the environment | |
| Wilderness Survival |
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adaptable for grades 3rd - 7th. Combination of shelter building, fire building, water boiling, and general survival |
| Nature Study |
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Explore the diversities of our mountain campus filled with ponds, ravines, forests and streams as your group learns and discovers nature. |
| Night Hike (evening program) |  |
Discover your other senses when the light goes out. Groups choose to incorporate this in with Orienteering I |
| Campfire (evening program) |
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Songs, Skits, and Stories |
| Games on the Field (evening program) | Running active games that vary with the season | |
| Family Night (evening program) | Indoor activities that continue to work on group development | |
| Dutch Auction (evening program) | Indoor activities - designed for fun when the weather's wet, cold, or dark | |
| Appalachian Games (evening program) | Indoor / outdoor pioneer and Native American games. |
