2020 FINS COURSE CALENDAR

Do you know someone who could benefit from a FINS course? Fill out our Request More Information form and one of our Course Advisors will contact you. 

PARENT TESTIMONIAL: A SAFE SPACE

For me, Outward Bound signifies the opportunity to step outside of ourselves - our hectic life with all its ups and downs - and catch your breath.  
 
FINS did exactly that for our son. It allowed him a safe space - outside of his normal distractions - to really think about his life. With the intensity trained guidance and unbelievable patience of his amazing counselors, he was able to dig deeper within himself to gain a more mature understanding of the influencers in his life and reassess his priorities and goals.  
 
My son returned with a stronger sense of self, self-awareness, and sensitivity to those around him. He will always hate to do homework, but he is honest with himself now and honest with us. Repairing that aspect of our relationship has made the family less tense and anxious.  
 
The Outward Bound FINS Program gave our family a gift. We are grateful that they taught us to effectively communicate, identify what’s truly important, and gave us a much-needed pause to regroup as a family.  

INSTRUCTOR'S SNAPSHOT FROM COURSE

By: Elana Maslow, FINS Instructor

At the beginning of our 20-day expedition, the students on the course had little interest in using a map and didn’t understand the purpose of the skill. As the course progressed and the girls began to get new freedoms and privileges, navigating on their own became essential.

The mornings began with the chosen student navigator taking the time to look at the map to find our next campsite and how we would get to it. They would then share with the crew so that everyone knew how to get from point A to point B. Most of the days, navigating involved either just following the river or paddling south next to channel markers. However, on day 14 of course, the last day on the water, the girls had to navigate through mangrove islands in order to get to the new campsite without any help from instructors. The compasses were pulled out, maps were laid out on laps, and there was talk about giving up.

After getting lost down a small creek surrounded by mangrove islands that all looked alike, the girls started singing “nobody’s perfect” from Hannah Montana, ate a snack and took some time to reassess. We were lost and they knew it. The girls decided to backtrack and refused to ask for any instructor pointers, even though they still had a few left over. 

As we began to get ready for night paddling, our student navigator, Alondra, was struggling to find a shipyard canal, a landmark that let us know we were near our campsite. After asking Alondra to name some identifying features of where we were, she quickly realized that we were in a shipyard canal and less than a mile from camp. When we found our campsite, Alondra jumped out of the boats screaming that she did it and all the girls were cheering for her and congratulating her on the accomplishment. All she needed was a map, a compass, and a belief in her abilities that she could be self-reliant and face the challenge. 

FINS STAFF REFLECTION: GRATITUDE

By: Christina Roach, South Florida FINS Lead Family Coordinator

I love my job. For over 10 years I have been an outdoor educator in the wilderness or "backcountry. That is until recently when I transitioned my career into office or "front-country" educating. I'll admit it, I still miss teaching students in the field, but my new position has brought with it new kinds of joys, challenges, and opportunities for growth. 

I grew up in South Florida and at a young age, I tore myself from a lot of the roots I planted there to go explore the world. I’m grateful to have the chance to now re-submerge my roots in this mucky mangrove mud and make a difference in my backyard.

My daily task load is multi-faceted and includes time in our office as well as time on the road, but the part I enjoy most about my job is the case management and creating that human to human connection. Through my work, I have the privilege of being welcomed into our student's homes, schools, and communities as they work on completing the follow-up phase of their FINS program.

After students complete the 20-day wilderness canoe expedition portion of their course, they then move into the follow-up phase which usually takes 10 weeks, but can sometimes take as long as six months. During this phase, a certain number of home visits and phone conferences are required by the student in order to successfully graduate the program. These follow-up visits give me the opportunity to connect with students and their families in authentic and meaningful to provide structured support in transferring lessons learned as well as strategies and tools gained from the expedition phase of their course.

I assist each student in completing their individual transition plan, which consists of three main goals and a minimum of six action steps to help them reach those goals. I also assist the parents/guardians in acting on their own individual goals and action items. A big part of my job is also to sometimes simply mediate hard conversations within the home or school and help provide space for both the students and guardians to be listened to and validated and then hopefully some collaboration ensues.

Personally, my biggest take away from facilitating these kinds of lessons, activities and conversations has been that, learning how to hold space for and actively listen to a human that you care about can go a truly long way. Another aspect of my job that excites me is researching and learning about, and then connecting our families and students to other local community resources. The word "gratitude" is an understatement for the true feeling I get when I walk away from a home or school visit, but it's also the most appropriate word I can think of, especially this time of year.  

The Families In Need of Services (FINS) Program is part of the North Carolina Outward Bound School. This program is in partnership with: