Outdoor Program
The Outdoor Program has been a signature piece of Lakeside’s educational program for over 50 years and alums often name their outdoor trips among their most powerful learning experiences. Beyond building lifelong skills and confidence in the outdoors, students learn deeply about themselves as individuals, as members of a team, and as citizens with a first-hand understanding of the beauty and importance of the natural world in the Pacific Northwest.
All Middle School students go on an outdoor trip during grades 5, 6, and 7, and participate in Lakeside’s Global Service Learning program in grade 8. Upper School students complete an Outdoor Program course of one week or longer as a graduation requirement.
Outdoor Program staff and trip leaders are outdoor professionals who prioritize students’ safety and wellbeing. Trip leaders are experienced in working with teenagers, and have wilderness medical training and a deep knowledge of trip locations.
So much of nature and experiencing the outdoors is about being present. I realized how different it feels to be disconnected from technology and fully engaged with the natural world around me. - Sanchali B. ’27
Access and affordability
Middle School: Learning by doing, growing by exploring
Middle School outdoor trips are designed to help students understand and appreciate the immense beauty of our state and develop a sense of place in the Pacific Northwest. Students experience Washington’s varied terrains and build their understanding of our region’s geography, ecology, and history.
My outdoor trip really helped me internalize the fact that you can hike around with everything you need, just in one backpack. That just struck me as a really cool thing because I often rely on a lot of material things, but I realized that my life doesn't have to be that complicated.- Lilian A. ’29
- The entire class of 5th graders spends three days engaged in outdoor science at NatureBridge Environmental Learning Center in Olympic National Park
- Small groups of 6th graders go on three-day outdoor experiences at state park group campsites in western Washington. Working together, they learn foundational camping skills such as how to set up a tent, cook for a group, hike, and explore natural areas.
- Seventh graders complete a four-day backpacking trip. These are expedition-style wilderness trips where students hike to a different campsite each night, carrying everything they need. Students hone their wilderness camping skills and have opportunities to take on leadership roles.
- As the culmination of students’ 5th-, 6th-, and 7th-grade Service Learning and Outdoor programs, 8th graders participate in Lakeside’s Global Service Learning program (GSL). They travel to six different locations throughout the Pacific Northwest to live and work alongside people in communities where issues of economy, environment, and culture intersect.
Upper School: Discovery, learning, and leadership in the outdoors
Lakeside Upper School’s Outdoor Program carves out valuable time for students to connect with their peers and nature, disconnect from technology, and engage in a process of self-discovery.
On each outdoor trip, lasting a week or longer, students challenge themselves in developmentally appropriate ways: They build their self-sufficiency, carrying everything they’ll need for the entirety of the trip. They sleep in the backcountry, cook family-style meals, generate clean drinking water, and engage in a solo experience, spending time alone with their thoughts.
Working together, and with the support of the outdoor educators leading the trips, students engage in unstructured problem-solving challenges with immediate consequences, ranging from setting up tents to forging streams. Beyond building students’ outdoor skills, the trips push students to expand their personal limits and develop a stronger sense of themselves within a group setting, and themselves in the natural world.
I had so much in common with groupmates that I never expected. The trip really helped me connect with people in ways I wouldn’t have at school.- Drew k. ’25
The Upper School Outdoor Program offers 18 trips a year that span the Western United States, providing a variety of opportunities for students at all skill levels to learn about the natural world through firsthand experience. Student and leader interests guide learning: conversations range from native plants to astronomy, and Indigenous history to climate science. Leaders often cover aspects of the historical and modern trade-offs that have balanced conservation, resources, and development, which help students evolve their understanding of our region and the West.
Trips last one week or longer and take place during summer, midwinter break, and spring break. All Upper School students must complete at least one outdoor trip to graduate. Trips are mixed-gender and mixed-grade groups of eight to ten students, providing opportunities for younger students to learn from older students, and for older students to take on leadership roles with the group. This experience can culminate in the “Leadership in the Modern Era: Outdoor Leadership” senior semester elective, which includes two weeks backpacking in the Utah wilderness followed by seniors leading (alongside faculty) a 7th-grade backpacking trip.
