Ben started working for Thompson Island Outward Bound in spring 2017. As a Youth Facilitator he is working with the Connections program, which takes just Boston Public School students around the island to learn about science, and the Discovery program, which takes any student group through group building initiatives on one of the islands in the Boston Harbor.
During the summer Ben worked with the same students for a total of 156 hours over five weeks in the Summer Connections Program. He, along with his co-teacher, took around 10 students around the island to explore deeply the science of the environment and themselves. Much more than summer school and camp combined, the Summer Connections program allowed Ben to see how an experiential based outdoor education could be seemlessly integrated with the public school system.
Connections
5/1/17: Young Achievers, 5th. Earth's Processes. 3 hrs.
5/2/17: King, 5th. Between the Tides. 2.5 hrs.
5/5/17: Roosevelt, 5th. Microwilderness. 2.5 hrs.
5/9/17: Josiah Quincy, 5th. Earth's Processes. 3 hrs.
5/10/17: Josiah Quincy, 5th. Microwilderness. 3 hrs.
5/11/17: Condon, 5th. Microwilderness. 3 hrs.
5/12/17: Warren Prescott, 5th. Microwilderness. 3.5 hrs.
5/17-19/17: Lilla G. Frederick Pilot, 6th. What Scientists Do & Diving Into Density. 29.5 hrs.
5/24-26/17: Curley, 7th. What Scientists Do & Diving Into Density. 31 hrs.
6/5-7/17: Dearborn, 6th. What Scientists Do & Diving Into Density. 32 hrs.
6/20/17: Mario Umana, 6th. Earth's Processes. 2 hrs.
6/21/17: Hurley. 6th/7th. Earth's Processes. 2 hrs.
Crossing over the Monkey Bridge over the West Salt Marsh
Discovery
5/8/17: Paul Cuffee, 8th. Island Exploration. 7 hrs.
5/15-16/17: Gram and Parks, 6th. Alpine Tower. 21 hrs.
5/20/17: Highham, 8th. Alpine Tower. 7 hrs.
5/22/17: Weymouth Decisions Program, High School. 8 hrs.
5/30/17: McCarthy Towne, 6th. 6 hrs.
6/1/17: Neighborhood House Charter School. 6th. 4 hrs.
6/2/17: Neighborhood House Charter School. 5th. 3.5 hrs.
6/8-9/17: Sharon Middle School, 7X. 7th. Alpine Tower and Giants Ladder. 21.5 hrs.
6/12-13/17: Sharon Middle School, 7A. 7th. Alpine Tower and Giants Ladder. 21.5 hrs.
6/14/17: Young Achievers, 8th. Alpine Tower. 4.5 hrs.
6/15-16/17: Sharon Middle School, 7B. 7th. Alpine Tower and Giants Ladder. 21.5 hrs.