This program and the nature of its activities will give students an opportunity to explore outdoor leadership in the context of a culturally rich and ecologically diverse island within the Caribbean’s Windward Islands chain: St. Lucia.
St. Lucia maintains an intriguing historical and contemporary narrative built through the impacts of colonialism and influences such as tourism, environmentalism, globalization, and foreign relations. The mountainous topography of St. Lucia also tells the story of its volcanic origin, while the beaches, rainforests, national parks, marine sanctuaries, plantations, and culturally rich villages tell the story of St. Lucia’s distinctive biological and cultural history.
The unique beauty, nature, and culture of St. Lucia will be the setting for the group’s exploration of the connection between context and outdoor leadership practices, through the application of related theories, skills, and methods. An emphasis will be placed on experiential, environmental, and adventure education and the additional exploration of each student’s unique leadership development potential.
During this program, students will not only observe, analyze, and learn from outdoor guides and leaders who work with our group, but they will also develop and grow as leaders themselves. Students will participate in leadership, teambuilding, and community building activities which will emphasize learning to appreciate diversity, gaining intercultural awareness and competency, and nurturing global citizenship. Students will practice group facilitation, processing, and debriefing as ways of creating highly effective teams that can travel and live together harmoniously. The activities we do will build trust and communication skills which are applicable in every aspect of our lives. We will take advantage of all of the wonderful outdoor activities, the unique ecosystems of the land and sea, and diverse cultural activities as we build our skills.
Participants can expect and should be able to go hiking, snorkeling, kayaking, zip-lining, jungle biking, swimming with sea turtles, searching for the endangered St. Lucia Parrot, explore cultural heritage sites, and play a pick-up soccer game with the locals.