BEMIDJI — Students at Voyageurs Expeditionary High حلحلآ» got a taste of the wilderness earlier this week, as Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness visited Bemidji to prepare students for their upcoming trip to the Boundary Waters in July.
Students signed up for the trip in the fall, when FBWW first visited the charter school to give students general outdoor education through their program.
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Now that the trip is right around the corner, Rachel Hedlund of FBWW gave students a refresher during her visit on Monday.
A popular place for camping, canoeing and fishing experiences, the Boundary Waters are located in northeastern Minnesota within the Superior National Forest. Extending over 150 miles along the border of Minnesota and Canada, the area covers roughly 1.1 million acres and has more than 1,000 lakes with miles of trails and portages connecting them.
Since there are no motors allowed in the majority of the area, most lakes are only accessible by portaging or carrying your boat and supplies across land on trails to the next lake.
During her visit, Hedlund primarily focused on team building and showing students how to pack a backpack efficiently and how to properly portage a canoe, all to make them more comfortable camping in the wilderness.
"I came over this time to go over packing, clothing, portaging, so that when they show up, they feel a little more prepared for the trip and don't feel as daunted by the experience,†Hedlund said.
According to teacher Austin Claseman, many of the students have gone on similar trips before and are thrilled to have the opportunity to experience the Boundary Waters later this summer.
“With our name being Voyagers Expeditionary, we really like to put an emphasis on the expedition stuff," Claseman said. "So, we really like doing trips like this, getting kids out in nature and outside of the classroom.â€
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is a nonprofit organization that does advocacy work to protect and promote the Boundary Waters. They travel to schools across the state to get “as many underserved and marginalized kids connected to the outdoors and Boundary Waters,†Hedlund detailed.
“We would love to get the spread across the whole state because the Boundary Waters is this incredible gem in Minnesota, but it's hard to access for people in all different parts of the state,†she said. “I started a little over a year ago out of Ely, and we just hired someone out of Grand Marais, so now we're able to reach wider and further.â€
The programs come at no cost to the students or schools. It’s instead funded by the Minnesota Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund.
Voyageurs has partnered with FBWW for the last few years, Hedlund said. The organization keeps coming back because they’ve gotten great feedback from the students.
“It's sweet with this school because a lot of the kids who've gone on the trips before are coming again, which is awesome to see that energy grow towards being outside and spending time outside,†Hedlund said. "A lot of these kids wouldn't be able to do these experiences otherwise."
