In February, a group of young men from Turning Winds
Academic Institute hiked out to the Upper Ford cabin in Yaak, Montana. There were many first time experiences during
the trip as many of the students at Turning Winds Academic Institute have never
experienced snowfall like this in their young lives.
The students enjoyed sledding, snowshoeing, and even
built an igloo out of snow. Many team
building exercises were played each evening as well. Below are two of the student’s reflections on
the trip:
From the pen of Ryan A.:
“The venturing trip was a lot of fun but also very
educating. Along with the fun we had the
trip also taught me so much about myself and reassured me on the progress I
have made while being at Turning Winds Academic Institute. We were given a lot of freedom compared to
our everyday life at the school. There
were many chances to make the right or wrong choice throughout the trip and I
made all the right choices. In some
situations I was in, I would have made the wrong choice before coming to Turning
Winds Academic Institute. It was nice to
know I was trusted and it was even nicer to know that when I was trusted I was
able to make the right choice. We were
also given a ration of food for our lunch throughout the week. I learned that I have to work on saving
things and using my resources wisely.
Although it was just food this time, I know now that in the real world
it could be money and if I don’t spend it wisely I might not be able to pay my
bills. I understand that this could then
lead to whole mess of other problems.
All in all it was a great trip with lots of fun and good lessons. I feel as though I learned so many valuable
lessons on this trip while also being given a great opportunity to reflect on
the progress I have made while being here at Turning Winds Academic Institute.”
From the pen of Brian S.:
“A couple of weeks ago I went a super venturing. This was a huge privilege for me because
super venturing is usually for graduates only.
I was given the opportunity to attend because of my good performance in
the program thus far.We went to a cabin that was a few miles outside of Yaak for a week. There was no electricity or running water, so we had to boil our water or filter it.
There were a lot of activities we participated in. One day we went snowshoeing up in the mountains. It was fun going through the deep snow. We also went sledding one of the days. We made ramps and found anyway we could to gain speed.
We had a lot of freedom during venturing, and it was a great
opportunity for me to see how I would handle freedom at home. I am proud of myself that I continued to make
good choices and did not abuse the freedom I was given. “
