Ten Wilmington high-school students are preparing for a three-week Alaskan wilderness adventure as part of a program that introduces outdoor excursions for students with financial needs.
Serving as ambassadors for the National Center for Outdoor and Adventure Education’s program Education Without Walls (EWW), the students will climb, hike and camp on glaciers in the remote mountains of Alaska at no personal cost over 21 days this July.
“Circumstances arise in all of our lives where we find ourselves in financial need,” said Zac Adair, cofounder of the center. The group uses outdoor adventure to help its students overcome challenges they face in daily life.
EWW specifically aims to encourage highly motivated students in academic and personal development. Each Alaska-bound teenager has participated in EWW excursions throughout his or her middle- and high-school years.
“I was always too scared to go out in the woods before this,” said Shaianne Bowman, a junior at New Hanover High School. “It’s helped me learn how to communicate, too. I’m an introvert but I’ve started to learn about how to talk about my problems.”
