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North Carolina Standard:
Each expedition combines wilderness backpacking in the Pisgah National Forest,
whitewater rafting on the Nantahala River and rock climbing in the majestic
Smoky Mountains. The expedition starts at Balsam Base camp with instruction
in cooking and first aid, group initiatives on the ropes course and climbing
instruction. Participants then leave Base to operate in natural wilderness
areas best suited for specific adventure activities. During the backpacking
trip students have the opportunity to choose between several exciting electives
including: survival skills, archery and tomahawk toss, arts & crafts,
and mountain biking.
Quick Facts:
Dates:
Session I: 6/13 - 6/24
Session II: 6/27 - 7/8
Session III: 7/11 - 7/22
Session IV: 7/25 - 8/5
Students:14
Days: 12
Tuition:$2,700
Ages:11 - 18
Gear Guide
Gear List
Itinerary
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Philosophy: SOAR believes all individuals identified with learning disabilities (LD) and attention deficit disorder (AD/HD) possess inherent talents and gifts. These abilities can mean incredible success in adulthood once these students negotiate the challenging obstacles of childhood, adolescence, and a traditional education system, usually unable to respond to individual learning styles.
Therefore, the SOAR model is based on two fundamental principles. First, youth with LD and AD/HD flourish when they are encouraged to focus on their strengths in an experiential setting. The second principle acknowledges that success can be generalized by encouraging our students to develop and utilize strategies, enabling them to compensate for those challenging characteristics of LD and AD/HD. To this end, SOAR staff strive to ensure success for each student across a wide range of experiences. Such success, in turn, builds essential self-esteem and self-confidence.
Based on these two foundations, SOAR participants develop problem solving skills, effective communication strategies, increased self-awareness, and social skills. Program activities include a broad base of wilderness adventure experiences that empower students to make healthy choices, learn more about themselves, overcome challenges, and establish relevance from these experiences to other aspects of their life.
SOAR's Specialty Courses are open to SOAR alumni and students with the maturity and experience level to be successful on the course. Acceptance is conditional on the approval of the course director. Most specialty courses are led by one of SOAR's year-round staff including Jonathan Jones, John Willson and Logan Walters.
SOAR’s programs are designed to allow students the opportunity to increase their independence while away from home. Independence is gained through self-motivation and life skills instruction. With this in mind, we involve our students in many decision making processes, such as setting individual goals, developing group guidelines, as well as trip and meal planning. This also comes into consideration when developing SOAR’s communication policy, detailed in our Parent Handbook.
SOAR is dedicated to serving the needs of individuals with learning disabilities (LD) and attention deficit disorder (AD/HD) and is proud to be the finest: