KINGS BEACH, Calif. — Since opening its doors this September to almost 70 students, Tahoe Expedition Academy has been buzzing with curiosity, adventure and authentic learning experiences.

“I'm awash in the wonderfulness of it all,” said Margo Redfern, one of the founders of the school. “All four of my kids are wildly happy; they passionately love school and are learning like sponges.”

Just seven months from concept to reality, this Expeditionary Learning school exemplifies what a devoted community can create. The results are “nothing short of magical,” said founder, teacher and co-director DC Larrabee. “There is no other way to explain how we have come so far in such a short amount of time.”

While high academic standards are non-negotiable, EL teaches that accomplishments take more than book knowledge. Along with rigorous traditional class work, “students learn that it takes character and perseverance — overcoming fear and failure- to be successful,” said teacher Stephanie Gibbons.

What is Expeditionary Learning?

Created 17 years ago at Harvard, Expeditionary Learning is based on the teachings of Kurt Hahn, the founder of Outward Bound. With more than 165 schools in the US, the academic success of EL has drawn considerable attention. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated over 23 million dollars to EL, and President Obama has called this model an “example of how all schools should be.”  

EL challenges students and teachers to be actively involved, “crew not passengers,” in their own learning.

“My teaching has been re-inspired and reinvented,” said Taylor Simmers, middle school teacher and co-director of the academy. “Creating hands-on learning activities and character building lessons; integrating social studies, science and literacy; and designing academic adventures are exciting challenges for me.”

Already this year, Simmers' class joined the fourth and fifth graders on a three-day backpacking trip. The trip began with a “trust fall” — students and adults took turns falling from a boulder into the arms of the group; the activity was used as a physical metaphor throughout the adventure to remind students that they can overcome their fears and find value and gratification in taking calculated intellectual, physical, social and emotional risks. This is a lesson just as important as the plant life, navigation and history, which students discovered first-hand on their outdoor journey.

Perched high above the Tahoe Basin, students listened to readings from Herman Melvin and J.D. Salinger, which led to reflective journal entries and group “Spirit Reads.” Later, local experts taught fire-making, tree mapping and wild plant identification. Children investigated biologic adaptations and specializations. They also began to create a high quality project that will be used to educate other children in the community.

With eight years of full-time outdoor education experience in the Tahoe Basin, Simmers considers this trip “the most comprehensive (he has) ever been a part of in the backcountry. The learning kept coming and coming and coming.”

And it has kept coming — in October his students spent five days hiking over 15 miles of the Tahoe Rim Trail. They learned about the geology of the Tahoe Basin and discovered much about peers and themselves.

Adventure abounds for younger students too

Academic adventures are not reserved for the older kids, however. Preschool three- and four-year-olds spend hours each day exploring the trails behind the school studying nature, building wooden teepees and testing their physical and intellectual limits.

Second and Third Grade have been studying the local Indian tribes, visiting local story tellers, and comparing the life of a fictional Indian child to their own by interviewing their parents about the day they were born.

Meanwhile, Kindergarten and First Grade have been transported back in time to Tahoe 100 years ago. Local experts have taught them how to print newspaper, make soap and dip candles. A field study to Watson Cabin left the children with a time capsule full of old fashioned games and songs they sing with teacher Melanie Cooke as she plays the guitar.

Cooke loves the EL practice of studying topics that are an inch wide and a mile deep.

“When we study one topic for the whole semester we have time to really delve into the content ... to make real world connections through field work and local experts,” she said.

“As a result,” explains Larrabee, “our understanding of the universe radiates from the academic experiences we share in this serendipitous, one-of-a-kind, intellectually engaging environment, the Lake Tahoe Basin.”