The Lowell Whiteman School

LWS Experience

“Of all the things that might be true about experiential education, the one thing that is unassailably true is that you can’t understand it by defining it, you must do it.” — John Huie

The Lowell Whiteman School is committed to experiential education – but it isn’t easy to define.  We’ve been doing it for over 50 years and our students call it The LWS Experience.   And what is that?  We’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it and asking our students what it meant to them.

Inspiring MINDS and Inspiring LIVES.

The young adults who choose the Lowell Whiteman School come to us with unique dreams, perspectives and goals.

They are consistently engaged, challenged and supported........

through rigorous academics, mentoring relationships and experiential education.

As a result of their LWS Experience, students become

.......comfortable with who they are, confident in their abilities and ready to lead remarkable lives.

Lowell Whiteman, our founder, was one of the first to pioneer experiential education.  He went one step further and combined experiential education with academics in the 1950’s.  Today, there are a lot of schools and camps rolling out similar programs but we do it best.

We have a long history of success and expertise with experiential education.  Many of our teachers have over 20 years of experience at LWS, and they are truly dedicated  to our unique program.

According to our alums, the Lowell Whiteman Experience is:

• An innovative way of enriching education.

• Epic adventure in the great outdoors.

• An opportunity to compete and excel in a sport.

• Education about the world and exposure to new cultures in a way that opens their minds and creates community, and world-minded citizens.

• A way for students to build character, agility, strength, and self-confidence while they build life-long relationships, and share experiences.

The Whiteman Experience helps develop a well-rounded individual, who is able to accept challenges, is comfortable and successful in his world…….confident in his abilities and ready to lead a remarkable life.

So how do we do The Whiteman Experience so well?

Our experiential activities are carefully scheduled around our academics so we don’t sacrifice the quality of the classroom experience.  Students study hard, and the curriculum is challenging.  LWS Experiential Education begins with our well established camping program.  We make the most of the Colorado Wilderness, some of which borders our campus.

Fall Activities, Backpacking & Camping

The week school starts, we depart for our orientation camp trip in small groups. Through out the fall, we camp and hike together on three separate trips, building unique relationships between teachers and students.  Instead of PE,  we have afternoon activities such as kayaking, biking, climbing, horseback riding, team sports, and physical training. We take some of our activities on the road to Utah during Desert Week; the LWS Canoe and kayak trips are very popular, as is the Horse trip.  Canyonneering, biking and climbing in the Canyonlands are great adventures.

Winter Activities

In the winter, we have recreational or competitive skiing and riding.   Those competing heavily have academics tailored to their needs.  Clubs and community service activities are active through out the year.  Teachers who specialize in activities such as climbing offer multiple trips through out the year.

In January,  students split off on to one of two programs:

1) Competitive skiers and riders drop two classes until April to make time for training and competitions.  In April, the skiers make up their two dropped classes.

or

2) Foreign Travelers and Ride-Write students (those who snowboard but compete less) begin to plan and define their own foreign trips with their leaders.

In the winter, Foreign travelers begin to study the culture, geography and language of the countries they will be visiting.  Each foreign trip involves an adventure such as trekking, camping, kayaking, rafting, riding horses or bac the hosts.  In addition, students spend part of each trip performing community service which could involve painting a school, working in a communal garden, clearing brush around a temple, or volunteering in an orphanage.  Homestays give students an even deeper understanding of the culture they are visiting.  Students come back with their sense of adventure well fulfilled, and an appreciation of how other people live.

Our foreign travel program gives students a sense that they are members of the world community.

In early May, the foreign tavelers and competitive skiers/riders reunite and normally scheduled classes continue until graduation.  In the spring, students can take advantage of classes for beginners and intermediate kayakers, the miles of spectacular single-track mountain biking trails in the area, and even a ski hut trip or two before the snow melts.

From the Rocky Mountains, to the deserts and canyons of the southwest, to the shores of foreign countries, we make tracks.  In between, we study hard and learn about the world.

Inspiring MINDS and Inspiring LIVES.