ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 31, 1996 TAG: 9612310117
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE (AP)
SOURCE: CATHY JETT THE (FREDERICKSBURG) FREE LANCE-STAR
THE OUTWARD BOUND-STYLE program is offered at Prospect Heights Middle School in Orange County, the first school in the state to have such an after-school activity.
Annie Waldron was halfway up a wall at Rocky Top Climbing Club in Charlottesville when her foot slipped.
As instructor Matt Babcock held the belay rope hooked to her safety harness, the eighth-grader from Prospect Heights Middle School in Orange County pushed the sole of her boot hard against the wall's rough surface to regain her balance.
She had learned the maneuver, known as a friction step, two days before in a clinic held by Discovery, the Outward Bound-style program. Prospect Heights is the first school in Virginia to have an after-school program affiliated with the adventure-based Outward Bound.
Annie quickly found a new toehold on the 20-foot wall, then another and another. Minutes later, she scaled the top and rappelled down to the cheers of her classmates.
Having fun while tackling new challenges is a big part of Discovery's appeal, said organizer Andy Mink.
An eighth-grade history teacher at Prospect Heights, Mink said the program develops leadership skills and gives students hands-on lessons in subjects they are studying in class.
Climbers, for example, use some of the basic principles taught in physical science. Besides friction, they rely on leverage to get from one toehold to another. Pulleys and safety lines keep them from falling.
The eighth-grade Discovery students also face fears they wouldn't ordinarily encounter in the classroom, Mink said. Thirteen-year-old Amanda Davis, for example, realized she was scared of heights after she had to climb up a telephone pole and then jump to a trapeze 3 feet away during one of the group's first outings.
The thought of scaling walls at Rocky Top terrified her. At first, she wouldn't go in the room where everyone else was taking turns climbing. Then she got close enough to take pictures for the group's Internet site.
Finally, just before they got ready to leave, Amanda asked if she could put on a harness and climb.
``It took her about five seconds,'' Mink said. ``As soon as she reached the top, the whole room broke into spontaneous applause. She just glowed.''
Discovery students have hiked, ridden mountain bikes and completed the Falls River Ropes Course west of Charlottesville since forming in September. The 22-member group plans its outings at weekly meetings after school.
In the spring, the group will take an eight-day hike through Pisgah National Forest in northwestern North Carolina.
``Everything we're doing is leading up to this,'' Mink said.
Students are responsible for raising $800 each for the trip, which is being offered through the Kurt Hahn Center for Educational Services at the North Carolina Outward Bound School. Fees, equipment and materials for everything else are provided through donations from businesses, parents and a state grant given to Orange County schools.
Mink, 28, started the course because he had always been intrigued by Outward Bound. Last summer, he received an Eisenhower grant and a merit grant scholarship from the Colorado Outward Bound School to take its 15-day class for teachers in the Rocky Mountains.
``It was by far one of the more monumental things I've ever done, which gave me inspiration to come back and offer the same sort of things for my kids,'' he said.
Sitting around the campfire, Mink and his classmates customized a yearlong Outward Bound program for Prospect Heights, one of 12 offered at middle schools in the Southeast.
Outward Bound was developed after German U-boats began sinking British merchant ships during World War II. Young sailors proved less able to survive the wait for rescue than older seamen.
The problem, educator Kurt Hahn discovered, was a lack of confidence. Hahn set up a program of progressively rugged challenges to help young recruits develop the confidence necessary to survive. He called it Outward Bound after a nautical term referring to ships leaving port for the open ocean.
Today, the nonprofit outdoor education organization has programs in more than 50 schools around the world.
Mink began the Discovery program with an orientation for students and parents. About 70 students expressed interest, and Mink and six other teachers chose 17 boys and five girls.
That's a manageable size for the first year, he said. It was also easier to ask area businesses to donate equipment for a smaller number.
The group includes students such as Zach Cobb, who wanted to do school-related activities outdoors instead of in a stuffy classroom, and DeJuan Smith, who wanted new challenges and a chance to make new friends.
``We expect to know ourselves better by the end of the year,'' said Discovery classmate Hannah Buchman.
The program has attracted the attention of other schools. Some want to establish similar programs; others with Outward Bound programs of their own are interested in becoming sister schools.
``Andy's an amazing guy, such a go-getter,'' said Stephen Tomb of the Kurt Hahn Center in Asheville, N.C. ``He's been able to do in one year what it's taken some other schools a couple of years to obtain.''
Mink would like to see Discovery offered as an elective next year. Students would do community service projects, a cornerstone of Outward Bound, and set up some type of business to pay for their trips.
``It's all about having these kids feel there's a sense of value in what they do in school,'' Mink said. ``Too often, that doesn't exist in a traditional system.''
LENGTH: Long : 107 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP< Prospect Heights Middle School student Meganby CNBJunghanns scales the wall during a Discovery Club trip to Rocky Top
Climbing Center in Charlottesville.