Give Us 5 Weeks to Transform Your Teen
At Discover Term, we offer students the opportunity to expand beyond what they ever thought was possible and push through a bit of discomfort to experience immense growth and JOY!
The five-week Powder Term or Surf Term offers a unique opportunity for middle school adolescents to pause their typical schooling or living and step out of their comfort zones for five weeks. The brave 11-14-year-olds of Surf and Powder Terms leave their friends and routines behind to adopt a new living space and community.
This is where the magic begins. Five weeks away has delivered some fantastic results and led to transformed teens.
Teens Learn Personal Responsibility
Whether it be getting to surf class on time, ensuring you have all your gear for skiing, or setting your learning goal for a study hall session, Discover Termers go home feeling in charge of their learning and lives.
At Surf and Powder Term, students engage differently with their schooling and learn more about their learning styles. Every day, each student assesses their learning goal or objective for the day and, at the end of each study hall session, reflects upon if they met, did not meet, or exceeded their goals. They are asked to note what environment they worked in (alone, at a shared table, with music, without music, by a window, next to a friend who likes to chat) and fine-tune what sets them up for success.
Additionally, the group's success is up to each individual holding up the group's values and community contract. The students make sure they get up early each morning, show up to class on time, and keep their spaces (shared and personal) clean and tidy with daily ship shapes. In later blogs, you will see the profound impact parents have seen these daily practices and rituals have on their children.
Teens Gain Independence
While the students of Discover Terms gain a great deal of independence, they are also supported the whole way through. We pride ourselves on hiring the best of the best regarding educators, group facilitators, and ski or surf coaches. Our team empowers each student to make their own decisions, asking them questions that pique their curiosity and incentive to learn in each situation so they can grow and gain confidence in their decision-making ability. Whether it be learning how to properly fuel / sunscreen / layer your body to an interpersonal conflict between peers, the staff continually empowers our students. It is ready to bring the group back to harmony and reason if/when the situation presents itself.
Teens Cultivate Lifelong Friendships
Teenagers don't often get to live, eat, train, study, play, and sleep with 20-26 of their peers for 35 days. Due to the intensity of these day-in and day-out interactions, it's no wonder our students feel an inseparable, indescribable bond by the end of their time together. They help each other overcome fears, connect with people they might not normally interact with back home, find ways to recharge, and share all kinds of shenanigans.
Teens Learn New Life-Saving Skills
In both terms, safety is a cornerstone of our practice - and we equip all students to be active participants in the safety of themselves and each other.
At Surf Term, within the first 48 hours of arriving, our students go through an extensive Open Water Safety and CPR course to learn what to do if caught in a riptide. At Powder Term, our students actively learn about Avalanche safety/mitigation and winter survival skills.
Discover Term Delivers a Myriad of Memories with Lasting Impacts
Whether it be planting trees to help with reforesting the shores of the Costa Rican jungle, to seeing hundreds of Olive Ridley sea turtles coming to lay their eggs, to designing a multi-day expedition in the Arctic, to digging snow caves and building fires in the San Juan mountains, it's safe to say Discover Termers will carry their experiences with them wherever they go.
By breaking free of the norm and what is "expected" of kids at this pivotal age, Discover Term ignites curiosity, passion, and freedom in adolescents, setting them up to take control of their future and expand what they ever dreamed possible.
Ready to Apply?
Discover Term’s fully immersive, non-traditional learning programs empower 6th-9th graders to stretch their limits in every way imaginable.
For five weeks, students trade standard schooling for accelerated academics, smartphones for expert-led outdoor athletics, and everyday pressures for unforgettable adventures in some of the most beautiful settings on the planet.
To apply, click here.
