Adventures in Outdoor Learning: Camping Trips at Shore
As students move through their years at Shore, one of the most eagerly anticipated traditions is the overnight class camping trips, a milestone experience for our oldest students. These trips begin in Grade 5 with the annual trip to Camp Kieve in Nobleboro, Maine. Then, in the Upper School, , Grade 6 students head to the Hulbert Outdoor Center in Fairlee, Vermont, Grade 7 students venture into the Vermont wilderness at Hosmer Point in the Northeast Kingdom, and Grade 8 students journey up to Camp Mataponi in Naples, Maine.
Each of the camping trips is unique and different in its own way, while activities such as canoeing, kayaking, hiking, campfires, and team-building activities are annual traditions. Only at Camp Kieve can you find an extensive treetop ropes course that is always a highlight for Shore’s Grade 5 students, and it is only at Hulbert that Grade 6 students enjoy archery by the castle. Sagan D. loved the collaborative aspect and camaraderie of the cardboard boat building contest at Grade 8’s trip to Camp Mataponi. “It was so fun to work together and be competitive with the other teams! My team’s boat actually stuck together the whole time, so we ended up winning in a landslide.”
Meanwhile, one of Addie G.’s favorite memories from Grade 7’s Hosmer trip involved a different type of slide. "The big water slide attached to the roof was the coolest thing ever!” she remembered excitedly. “It’s something unique that you don’t get to do often, and being able to take the time to enjoy it with my friends was really special.”
Each trip builds upon the last, culminating with the Camp Mataponi trip, strategically positioned at the beginning of the school year to give Shore’s newest Grade 8 Leadership Ambassadors a chance to reflect on what it means to be a student leader at Shore. Making time for students to discuss this together while also encouraging students to define their own aspirations for their final year at Shore is important. This is an opportunity for students to find their own authentic voices, and an invitation to ask themselves what impact they want to leave on their community—all while building the kind of lifelong memories that only outdoor learning adventures with friends can make.
Shore Country Day School’s mission is to provide an education that inspires a love of learning and encourages children to embrace academic challenge. We seek to build character, cultivate creativity, and value diversity as we help our children become healthy, compassionate citizens of the world.
The School admits qualified students of any race, color, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, sex, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, or any other status protected by applicable law, and extends to them all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. The School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, sex, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, or any other status protected by applicable law in the administration of its admissions, scholarships, and loans, and its educational, athletic, and other programs.