"Nearly half of all low-income students will not go to college." - College Board Task Force
The Solution
Tracy Baynes, the Student Expedition Program's (STEP) founder, was moved by this fact and wanted to do something to help underprivileged youth.
After creating STEP in 2002, she partnered with NOLS Professional Training in early 2005 to serve their mission of providing life-skills and leadership training to low-income, college-bound high-school students in order to better prepare them for the challenges ahead in college.
Students go on a 3 week sea kayaking expedition in the pristine wilderness of Alaska's remote coastlines. For 23 days STEP participants paddle a sea kayak beneath towering glaciers and past wooded coves. They come back better leaders and role models for their peers.
Out of 21 participants of the 2007 STEP program who completed their NOLS Expedition in Alaska , 19 are attending college!
STEP students experience the NOLS leadership curriculum while being exposed to the wilderness of Alaska.
Photo: Tracy Baynes
STEP / NOLS Video
STEP's goal is to give future leaders the opportunity to pave their own pathway to lifelong success.
Photo: Tracy Baynes
Chat:
Share:
“Thanks to the STEP Expedition and NOLS, I have grown into a person who knows that anything can be accomplished.”
