Becoming in the Wild: How Our Outdoor Education Shapes the Middle School Years

At Lorien Wood, we believe middle school should be more than a passage—it should be a transformation. These years are not simply a bridge between childhood and adolescence; they are a watershed.

That’s why we’ve created a three-year, outdoor-integrated curriculum called The Watershed Years—a journey of field-based learning that cultivates not only skills but stewardship. These years invite students to attend to the created world, to take up the work of restoration, and to understand their role in it—not just as observers, but as caretakers and contributors.

Regardless of the grade in which a student begins, they rotate through three rich and distinct seasons of practice:

Shelter and Survival

Practices of Awareness, Resilience, and Self-Reliance
Students begin with the essentials: how to meet their needs in the wild with courage and creativity. Through fire-building, shelter-making, navigation, and seasonal readiness, they learn not only how to survive—but how to listen, adapt, and grow in resilience. It is a year of attentiveness, personal capability, and awe.

Tending and Mending

Practices of Restoration and Belonging
This year draws students into the quiet, faithful work of care: repairing tools, restoring trails, planting gardens, and nurturing soil. As they compost, cultivate, and craft, they learn that restoration often comes through small, consistent acts—and that to belong to a place is to invest in its flourishing. Through hands-on stewardship, care becomes more than a task; it becomes a calling.

Stewarding and Sustaining

Practices of Long-Term Care and Faithful Presence
In this final season, students are invited to think generationally. Whether they’re restoring a neglected space, managing erosion, or guiding younger students through a planting project, they are learning to care for systems that endure. This is the work of strengthening what is good, sustaining what is fragile, and imagining restoration—not only for today, but for the future.

Formation That Grows with Them

Throughout the Watershed Years, students spend time outdoors every school day—rain or shine. They engage deeply with the land, build resilience, reflect through nature journaling, and take on real responsibility. They don’t just learn about watersheds—they live within one, caring for the creeks, gardens, trails, and woodlands that surround their school.

And in the process, something beautiful happens:
Their roots go down deeper.
Their vision expands.
Their hands grow skilled.
Their hearts become more attentive.

They are not simply learning about stewardship—
They are becoming stewards.