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Girls Preparatory School

Upper School GOLE Students Embrace Adventure in Montana

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Upper School GOLE Students Embrace Adventure in Montana

This summer, a group of GPS Upper School students traveled to Dillon, Montana, as part of the Girls Outdoor Leadership Education (GOLE) program. The immersive experience was designed to challenge students through outdoor adventure while fostering leadership, resilience, and meaningful connection.

Led by Dean of Outdoor Education Andy Arick alongside GPS faculty and staff chaperones, the trip centered around three guiding themes: Have Fun. Be Present. Do Hard Things. Each day's adventures were paired with intentional opportunities for reflection, encouraging students to consider how they were living out those values and how they could carry the lessons of the week into the school year ahead.

Based at the University of Montana Western, students spent eight days exploring some of Montana's most remarkable landscapes. Adventures included rock climbing and rappelling at Spire Rock, swimming at Clark Canyon Reservoir, camping and hiking through Yellowstone National Park, exploring the historic ghost town of Bannack State Park, and an overnight backpacking expedition through the Snowcrest Mountain Range.

The culminating backpacking experience challenged students to hike 12 miles round trip while gaining more than 2,000 feet in elevation. Along the way, they relied on one another to navigate the trail, establish camp, prepare meals, and solve problems as a team, putting into practice the leadership and teamwork skills they had developed throughout the week.

Without access to their phones for most of the trip, students embraced the opportunity to disconnect from technology and be fully present with one another. Evenings were devoted to forums that blended outdoor education with personal growth. Students learned photography techniques to document their experiences, reflected through journaling and discussion, heard stories from trip leaders about influential leaders in their own lives, and explored how the week's experiences could shape their own leadership journeys.

"I was impressed by the resiliency of the group,” Andy said. “They did a lot of hard things with a positive attitude. They were present with each other without their phones most of the week, building positive relationships. And they were incredibly thoughtful during the reflective journaling portions of the trip.”

One of the trip's final activities invited each student to write a letter to her future self, capturing the lessons she wanted to remember long after returning home. Andy will deliver those letters later in the school year, offering students an opportunity to reflect on how they have continued to grow as leaders.

The experience exemplifies GPS's commitment to experiential learning by challenging students to step outside their comfort zones, develop confidence through adventure, and discover the strength that comes from leading and learning together.

Five young women pose in front of the %22Old Faithful Geyser%22 sign, with a wooded area and distant boardwalk visible in the background.
In the foreground, a group of young people are gathered around a portable stove preparing food, while in the background, a campsite with tents and RVs is visible amongst trees.
A group of young women poses in front of the Yellowstone National Park sign, with rolling hills and a cloudy sky in the background.
A young woman in a teal dress runs down a rocky cliff towards a calm blue lake, with rolling golden hills in the distance under a clear sky.
A man in a hat points to a map on a tree trunk while a group of young women watches in a sun-dappled forest.
A young girl in a blue shirt writes in a notebook while lying on green grass, with a brick building and another person blurred in the background.
A woman in hiking gear stands in a grassy meadow with a wooded mountain in the background.
Two young women sit by a crackling campfire on a rocky outcrop, with a dramatic cloudy sky overhead.
A smiling girl in a blue helmet and climbing gear ascends a rocky cliff face, with another climber visible below and trees in the sunlit background.
A group of hikers with backpacks stand in a grassy meadow, holding hands with arms raised, against a backdrop of a dense pine forest and distant mountains.