About Mountain Workshop

Mountain Workshop was founded in 1979 to develop and facilitate experiential learning and outdoor education programs that act as catalysts for personal growth and increased resilience, to help students manage change, to illuminate the value of diversity, and increase student engagement and establish a framework for developing and maintaining a positive school climate throughout the academic year.

Activating through Shared Experiences

Our experiential learning model provides a platform for shared experiences that not only demonstrate the value of individuality and teamwork, but also act as a catalyst for conversation that helps relate each experience back to everyday life and it’s challenges inside and outside of school. Activities are designed based on a basic three-step approach; instruction, activation and debrief discussions. The program gives teachers and administrators the opportunity to observe individual characteristics, group dynamics, and identify social behaviors both positive and negative.  We encourage teachers to take part in the activities with the students as a continuation on building quality relationships and improving school culture

Community Dynamics and Teamwork

Diversity and Tolerance
Create team challenges that illuminate the value of each team member’s participation and contribution of ideas and efforts. Teach the importance of practicing and patience with oneself and each other in team and social settings.

Empathy
Facilitate activities that generate conversations about individual experiences. Demonstrate active listening techniques and the importance of hearing and understanding before speaking/reacting.

Inclusion
Demonstrate how teams that work together are far more successful than those that form splinter groups. Reinforce the importance of diversity to team functionality.

Collaboration
Create group challenges that are impossible to complete without planning and executing as a group.

Personal Development

Courage and Confidence
Encourage individuals to not only expand their personal comfort zones with appropriate individual challenges, but also to experience and learn from failure as well as success.

Resilience and Empathy
Facilitate activities that first challenge each individual to be patient through trial and error and then encourage individuals to mentor others who face the same challenges.

Leadership and “Followership”
Building on resilience and empathy learning we facilitate activities that require individuals to both lead the group and be part of the group that follows a leader.