Outdoor and Service Learning

Fostering growth through service, movement, nature, connection and the arts.

Overview

One of the most important aspects of an Odyssey High School education is our Outdoor and Service Learning class. This is a graduation requirement that meets once a week. At Odyssey, we believe education is not just a mental activity, but one which connects students holistically to all aspects of being. 

Our Outdoor and Service  Learning program is a cornerstone of our school’s holistic approach to education, seamlessly complementing academic subjects by addressing key areas in Physical, Emotional, Moral, Aesthetic, and Spiritual development. Because we value these aspects of a child’s being, we devote our entire day on Wednesdays to the Outdoor and Service Learning class.

Our entire high school staff collaborates to design and implement the Outdoor and Service Learning program, ensuring a cohesive and impactful experience for students. This collective effort drives five key areas of focus: service, movement, nature, connection and the arts. Research has shown that these five areas contribute to overall health and well being.

Service

Through service we engage in helping the broader community and help students see solutions to some of the more pervasive challenges in our region. We have collaborated with Manna Food Bank, Asheville Greenworks, Equal Plates, Center for Conscious Living and Dying, Tater Knob Farm Brother Wolf and many other organizations.

Movement

Through movement students are able to improve their physical health while also benefitting the mental and emotional aspects of their being. We do this through hiking, biking, kayaking, rock climbing and other activities.

Nature

Through experiences with nature students are able to center and connect with forces larger than themselves. Students are able to be inquisitive and reconnect with that child-like sense of wonder. We do this by spending time in the vast natural beauty that is easily accessible to us in the mountains of western North Carolina.

Connection

Through connection students are able to form strong bonds of friendship and strengthen their school community. We do this through team building challenges such as high and low ropes course challenges and games that encourage problem solving, communication and trust.

Arts

Through art students are able to express their creativity and appreciate the beauty around us. We do this through collaborative painting projects, murals as well as exploring the work of local artists by visiting museums and galleries.

Person with curly hair wearing a blue, red, and white shirt pushing a red wheelbarrow in a wooded area with a large tree, clothes hanging on a line, and mountains in the background.
Two people are cleaning a large, circular, rusted metal fire pit outdoors on a grassy area with trees and shrubs in the background.
Four girls harvesting ripe red and green tomatoes in a garden with green plants, trees, and a body of water in the background.
Two young people planting seedlings in a garden with a background of trees and a pond. One is wearing a wide-brimmed hat, a white t-shirt, and camouflage shorts, smiling and holding a gardening tool. The other is wearing a green hat, black jacket, an
A man with a backpack standing on a large rock, looking at green mountains under a partly cloudy sky.