212 PS Students Explore the BWCA and Discover Themselves: “I’m stronger than I thought”
Beyond the classroom, students discover confidence, connection, and a sense of purpose.
This summer, 212 middle school students from 13 Minneapolis schools took part in one of Project Success’s longest-running experiential learning programs. Across five weeklong expeditions in partnership with Wilderness Canoe Base, students explored the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness while discovering more about themselves and one another.
One of the students was sixth grader Sadie Severson, who wrote these words after returning from her first Project Success Boundary Waters trip:
The lake is a mirror, reflecting the sky
Distorting the clouds to let the boat by
Out of the water, a bass leaps with a flare
Fresh like the first breaths of wilderness air
With a sigh of the wind, the quiet sets in
The twinkle of bird call says let the journey begin.
Staff began sharing Sadie’s poem, Release, with each new group before they left for the Boundary Waters. By the final trips of the summer, it had already become part of the experience, with students beginning their own journey by hearing the words of another middle schooler who had just returned from hers.
On five mornings this summer, canoes pushed away from shore as students began a week unlike any they’d experienced before. Everything they needed for the journey fit into a canoe. Phones stayed behind. Days were shaped by paddling, portaging, cooking over a campfire, and working together as a team.
For nearly 30 years, Project Success has brought students into the Boundary Waters because some experiences simply can’t be recreated in a classroom.
For Sadie, those moments became a poem.
For hundreds of other students, they became stories they carried home.
Those discoveries are exactly what the program is designed to create.
Jenny Batten, Director of Expeditions at Project Success, says the goal is to give students opportunities to “try out new things, explore options, and make informed choices about what they want for their future.”
“The Boundary Waters give us a place to put everything students were learning into action,” Adrienne Diercks, Founder & Executive Director of Project Success. “It’s about taking risks, facing challenges, working alongside people you might not otherwise know, and learning in ways that simply couldn’t happen without the experience.”
What students begin learning throughout the school year comes to life in the wilderness. Teamwork, leadership, communication, and problem-solving stop being classroom concepts and become part of everyday life.
When students returned home, they were asked a simple question:
What did you learn about yourself?
Their answers sounded different, but many pointed to the same discovery.
“I’m stronger than I thought.”
“I can carry an aluminum canoe.”
“I can do stuff if I just try hard.”
“I can make more friends than I think.”
“I have more confidence than I thought.”
They wrote about what they discovered they could do.
They also discovered something about one another.
“Everyone has something to offer.”
“Don’t leave anyone behind.”
“Ask for help if you need it.”
“We all have strengths.”
Those ideas weren’t learned during a workshop or written on a whiteboard. They were discovered one paddle stroke, one portage, and one shared meal at a time.
The week wasn’t without challenges.
Students wrote about rain, bugs, sore muscles, heavy packs, long portages, homesickness, and changing weather. They also wrote about jumping into the lake after a long day of paddling, spotting baby frogs along the trail, laughing around camp, making new friends, and discovering they were capable of more than they expected.
For many, the hardest moments became the ones they were proudest of.
The final expedition of the summer brought one more unexpected challenge. As wildfires spread across the Boundary Waters, Project Success staff and Wilderness Canoe Base guides worked together to safely evacuate students from the wilderness. The trip ended one day earlier than planned, but experienced staff, careful planning, and a strong partnership with Wilderness Canoe Base ensured every student returned home safely.
For Jenny, experiences like these become part of something much bigger:
“Who we are today is a compilation of all of our life experiences. Every experience becomes a part of us and influences who we become.”
Nearly 30 years after the first Project Success Boundary Waters trip, students are still returning home changed in ways they may not fully understand until much later.
Some remember jumping into the lake after a long day of paddling.
Others remember carrying a canoe farther than they thought they could.
Many remember the friends they made around a campfire.
Before next summer’s students head into the Boundary Waters, they’ll hear Sadie’s poem.
Then they’ll begin their own journey of discovering more.
