BEMIDJI — Learning has always transcended classroom walls for students at TrekNorth.
The onset of the 2024-2025 school year has been no exception as a smattering of field trips have brought students across the country within the last three months alone.
ADVERTISEMENT
As part of the charter school’s TrekNorth’s sixth through 12th graders have canoed the Mississippi River, visited the Long Lake Conservation Center, camped at Itasca State Park and hiked at Lake Vermilion State Park.
Such excursions aim to address the school’s three pillars: advanced placement classes, service learning and outdoor adventure.
“We have those pillars that make us a very specific charter school,” Experiential Education Director Julie Ueland said. “Our school is kind of graded on how we maintain those pillars of learning and how they contribute to our classrooms.”
Alongside Ueland, Elizabeth Mathews serves on the Experiential Education Leadership Team that plans each trip throughout the school year. Addressing the pillar of service learning, the team planned an Oct. 26-Nov. 2 trip to Kentucky and a Chicago trip for Nov. 10-15.
“For service learning, we like to provide an urban experience as well as rural,” Mathews said.
Students on the Kentucky trip explored poverty within a community and volunteered their time on various construction projects as part of the
“The purpose of this agency is to help make people’s housing in the area safe, warm, dry and accessible,” Ueland said, “so building wheelchair-accessible ramps for people, replacing some sub-flooring and putting down all new flooring throughout their home.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Amya Cobenais-Neadeau was one of the students to take part in the Kentucky trip.
“I thought it was cool to learn how to tile a floor,” she said, “and just being on the trip around people you’re not normally around.”
Ueland noted the interconnectedness of the students attending each trip after noting their preferences at the beginning of the school year.
“We are a super small school, but some students might not be the people that other kids hang out with every day,” she added. “By the end of the trip, everybody’s this tight little group that had a shared experience together.”
Shared experiences
Speaking on her own shared experiences, Victoria Taylor has expanded her horizons by participating in both the Kentucky and Chicago trips. Students stayed in Chicago’s and explored the city by working with food banks, after-school programs, transitional housing agencies, soup kitchens, and day and overnight shelters.
“This has given me a whole new perspective of the world and a different view from Bemidji,” Taylor said. “I really enjoyed just being able to help other people and seeing their spirit lifted.”
Didi Ninglafleur appreciated her experience in Chicago as she was able to work one-on-one with those experiencing homelessness in the city.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We really got to talk with them and learn about their experiences,” Ninglafleur said. “I feel like it really built social skills and communication, and those are very important things I brought back (to TrekNorth).”
On the outdoor adventure side of the equation, Ninglafleur visited Glacier National Park in Montana for advanced hiking, trail camping and car camping. The group then stopped at North Dakota's Theodore Roosevelt National Park — doubling the impact of the experience.
“What was really special was getting to experience another type of environment than we have here in Minnesota,” she added. “Everybody was just awestruck by the mountains while hiking. It was a little intense, but it’s what we needed.”
‘Everyone’s time to shine’
Throughout all trips, Ueland noted unique opportunities to recognize students’ strengths outside of a brick-and-mortar school building.
“Depending on what I teach, I might not interact with some students a lot,” she said, “but then you get to take these really cool trips and get to know those kids. A huge part of TrekNorth is building those really good relationships between staff and students.”
Mathews pointed to a symbiotic learning process that students go through alongside their teachers. Mathews has led the Chicago trip on four to five occasions and has allowed other staff members to work their way up to lead the trips themselves.
ADVERTISEMENT
“So we now have three staff members who can speak to social justice in an urban setting and bring that into the classroom,” Mathews said. “It’s all very well going on these trips, but then we need to bring those skills and knowledge back into our home community.”
With an upcoming “J-term” where students complete weeklong trips and activities during the semester break — as well as a full spring semester — Mathews hopes that students can continue honing their strengths and discovering new ones.
“It might be on a service trip, it might be in the classroom, it might be going up a mountain,” Mathews left off, “but it’s everyone’s time to shine.”
More information can be found at
The Trust Project
