Experiential education is best defined as learning by doing with reflection. Long known as “Ex Ed,” experiential education at Albuquerque Academy includes programming in outdoor, environmental, and wilderness education, as well as leadership development. The program has been a unique feature of the Academy since 1975. At the program’s inception, then-Headmaster Ashby Harper wrote, “The program is based on the conviction that students can learn in a rugged wilderness environment some of the important values which cannot be learned in the classroom.” As the program has evolved, the Academy has steadfastly maintained that conviction.Ex Ed is mandatory for students in grades 6-9 and takes place on Academy lands and wilderness areas throughout New Mexico and the Four Corners region, and all new 10-12 students participate in an overnight camping trip in Bear Canyon preceding the start of the school year. Classroom and field-based leadership and technical-skills courses are optional for students in grades 10-12. All 10-12 electives are paired with one or two mandatory trips. Seniors finish their time at the Academy with the senior projects program, an experiential capstone during the last month of school. One option for senior projects is the Ex Ed seminar.The experiential education department also supports experiential co-curricular trips with visual arts, science, and the world languages exchange program, and it offers NOLS Wilderness Medicine Courses.

Camp Kawanhee for boys Outdoor Education program is robust and unique. Based in southwestern Maine our organization has designed curriculum that focuses on exploring the mountains, rivers, and lakes that are right in our backyard. From walking a top Mt. Katahdin, to paddling through white water, our organization gives the campers the confidence and ability to go on bigger more extensive trips by the time they are Sr campers.