Grove School
Madison, CT

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Students Excel During
Summer ASTEE Trips

Outdoor excursions help students cultivate new relationships and strengthen existing bonds. While some teens were at home relaxing during summer vacation, students at Grove School in Madison, CT, a co-ed, therapeutic boarding school for adolescents, were busy honing their communication and teamwork skills through a series of outdoor adventures. The activities, which led students to Lake Placid, NY, home of the 1932 and 1980 Olympics, and Charelemont, MA, are part of Grove School's signature ASTEE© (Alternative Site Therapeutic and Educational Experience) programming.

Grove School's first summer ASTEE© trip took eight students to Lake Placid on a five-day, high-adventure trip that included mountain biking up Mount Von Hogenberg, canoeing 20 miles and hiking to the summit of Long Pond Mountain.

"When I first came to Grove I never thought that I would want to do a trip like the Five-Day," said Casey Vecilla, a senior from New York City. "Having successfully completed the trip I can proudly say that it was one of the best experiences of my life and definitely worth it!"

Trip leader and Grove School faculty member Alex Klein felt the Lake Placid excursion offered students an optimal ASTEE© experience.

"At the beginning of the trip the students did not know each other very well," Klein said. "However, by the end of the trip all of the students and staff were working as a single unit, supporting and helping one another. This is the ASTEE© experience."

A second Lake Placid trip then took eight students on a low-impact adventure that included mountain biking, canoeing and rock climbing. The trip was a great success with all attending students expressing a desire to participate in future ASTEE© excursions.

"If you don't know about something, it is good to try it anyway because you never know what's going to happen," said Michael Rosenthal, a freshman from Sioux City, IA. "I was afraid of rock climbing but I ended up getting to the top three times and that felt great!"

Grove School also took two groups of students on whitewater rafting trips along the Deerfield River in Charlemont, MA. Through activities such as learning to pilot the craft, students were able to further develop their teamwork skills and learn to communicate better with one another.

"The students were apprehensive at first but quickly found that they could be successful if they worked hard and supported one another," said faculty member Mike Black, a trip leader.

Through its ASTEE© program, Grove School challenges students to work together in a novel setting that motivates them to take reasonable risks and learn new skills. These opportunities, which Grove School has been offering to students for more than 20 years, helps strengthen students' sense of community while also helping them to build new and meaningful relationships with their mentors and peers. Past ASTEE© excursions include skiing, sailing off the east coast and in the Caribbean, as well as annual service trips to El Salvador. Rock climbing, backpacking and horseback riding adventures are under consideration for Fall 2011.

The Grove School program is a co-educational, therapeutic boarding school for adolescents who, because of social or emotional difficulties, have been unable to make satisfactory adjustments in their home, their school, or their social relationships.