Special needs students enjoy Water Gap adventure
By MediaNews Group
Philadelphia Outward Bound School and Roxborough High School are building on a partnership for students with complex needs.
Over 130 students have been able to participate and recently a group of six students, from both general education and special education, spent the week on an expedition in the Delaware Water Gap.
Day trips in 2024 with the school included May and November, with students from the general population as well as special education.
Assistant principal of the RHS ninth grade academy Julian Saavedra met Kim Glodek, Director of Education and Partnerships, Philadelphia Outward Bound School (POBS) at principal meetings and they hit it off.
“Students were just returning from their first full year after Covid and we wanted as much exposure and experiential learning as they returned, and POBS made sense. We organized trips for the 9th Grade Academy and had so much fun. A few teachers took ownership of the relationship, and it became something the students looked forward to,” said Saavedra.
The school originally began working with POBS in 2018 but this meeting kicked off a much larger partnership.
During the third year of the expanded partnership, they introduced it to the complex needs program for students with intense disabilities.
“We wanted that population to gain experience beyond work-related experiences and we also wanted something fun and challenging. So, we connected with POBS to see if we could orchestrate a program for them. The POBS team went above and beyond. They came to our school and set up an entire program in our field,” said Saavedra.
“This was such a treat for our students. It was all about teambuilding and excited the teachers too. The group included students with a range of autism, intellectual disabilities, students in wheelchairs – and the POBS team found a way to make the programming really meaningful for them. We were able to integrate some general education students into the programming and they all worked together. I’ll forever be grateful for Outward Bound for accommodating because our students with complex needs deserve to have top notch experiences like everybody else.”
During the last two years Roxborough sent their ninth graders along with their students with complex needs. They utilize POBS’ Wigard Avenue course location and have special programming on-site. This includes group activities and team building, learning social skills and “getting comfortably uncomfortable.”
“Our students didn’t necessarily realize how much they have locally in terms of the natural experiences that they can have, including exposure to getting outside and just being in nature. A lot of our students are in areas where there’s not a lot of greenery, so getting a chance to be in a natural setting is really important. Some students are resistant to doing these challenging things at first. But then as the day goes on, a lot of them start opening up to realizing, ‘wow, I can do these things that I didn’t think I could do.’ I think the longer-term result is it kind of opens up minds to thinking ‘maybe I could do more challenging things,’” said Saavedra.
In May 2024 students from the school took their first POBS expedition. Expeditions can include backpacking or canoeing and this group went backpacking. Six students went to the Delaware Water Gap, including a few with complex needs. It was a fully inclusive trip.
“We really love the program and all it provides us with. From team building to allowing kids to have fun outside the building, to exposure to nature, it is really important. Getting city kids out of the city and into a natural environment is incredibly powerful and important. The program is well-run, authentic and when our students return, they come back feeling better about themselves,” Saavedra said.
“I can’t tell you how many thank you’s and letters and just happy experiences that we received from allowing this experience to be had by the group of special education students too. Because for many of them, they might not have had a chance to get out and do these things if POBS hadn’t pushed for them to do it.”
Julie Dunaeva, RHS Autistic Support Teacher, added that “Special need students may miss out on some of the more typical experiences the general education population gets thanks to their diagnoses, but getting to have these experiences is so special. For some of them without financial means they’d never experience it any other way. It is a great opportunity to offer a more typical adolescent experience.”
“The POBS team is extremely helpful and supportive, and our students are so excited to do everything, including the rope climbing course. It’s a testament to the POBS team to fit it to our student’s needs. Our teachers have really taken ownership of the program and enjoy it too,” said Dunaeva.
“It was interesting to see some of the general education students struggling even more than some of my students on the expedition. We had rock stars from our special education group who stayed calm and collected and were able to complete these activities.”
“Our students are so open to everything. They truly come away from this with increased self-confidence. Some of the students on the expedition had never left their house for even a day, so it took some convincing of parents and all turned out great,” Dunaeva said.
Kim Glodek, Director of Education and Partnerships for Philadelphia Outward Bound School, added that “Inclusion has always been a cornerstone of our work. Whether creating an opportunity for a young person to experience nature differently, increasing awareness of what’s around them locally and regionally or holding space for all youth to engage in activities that may have been elusive, inclusion is what we strive to achieve. Collaborating with our partners at Roxborough H.S. to extend and plan Outward Bound experiences open to all students and been exciting and rewarding – especially seeing them on program days, learning and growing together.”