DURANGO, Colo.-- As the skies opened up, unleashing rain and golf ball-sized hail, the risk of flash flooding became imminent for a handful of educators participating in a multi-day rafting trip down the San Juan River.
"Seeing things like that happen was a teachable moment," said Brady Archer, a sixth-grade math and science teacher at Mancos Middle School. “It was incredibly impactful to put yourself outside your comfort zone and into the field to learn how to give kids a real connection to the place they live in.”
Archer was one of nine participants in the inaugural Educators on the Water program, a Fort Lewis College initiative designed to help teachers develop experiential learning skills they can integrate into their classrooms—or better yet, outside of them.
Funded through the DIDF Workforce Development grant and in partnership with FLC’s School of Education, the pilot program was offered at a significant discount and allowed participants to earn graduate credit for the course.
For four days, educators from six Colorado and New Mexico school districts embarked on a 27-mile journey down the San Juan River, renowned for its beauty and rich Native American cultural history.
“It was a great experience,” said Daniel Burns, a physics teacher at Piedra Vista High School in Farmington, New Mexico. “Every teacher should do a program like this; it's a refreshing change from traditional teaching methods and really broadens your perspective."
Eli Shostak, a senior lecturer in FLC’s Adventure Education department, who led the river trip, emphasized the importance of foresight as a trip leader. He said the last day’s experience will be a reminder for the teachers as they prepare their own trips in the future.
“Always think ahead, so when unexpected situations arise, you're already in the most secure position possible. It's about being aware of and navigating challenges while ensuring everyone's safety. If you find yourself redlining, at the edge of your comfort zone, it means things have gone wrong.”
Building on Success
Planning a river trip is complicated, with considerations for food prep, gear, and countless logistics. Adding a multi-day immersive learning course only compounds the complexity. Enter Fort Lewis on the Water FLOW program.
FLOW was launched in 2021 to provide students with educational learning experiences outdoors. The organizers were well-prepared to design a similar course for educators.
“I had this idea a long time ago, and here we are four years later making it happen,” said Bruce Saxman, a coordinator for FLOW and a senior lecturer of Adventure Education.
Saxman, who participated in the river trip and assisted with logistics like cooking, said teachers, like students, benefit greatly from getting out of the classroom to learn. Early in his career, Saxman recognized the power of place-based learning and has been a strong advocate ever since.
“Especially post-COVID, students are super restless in the classroom, having to just sit there and listen,” he said. “Any active, experiential learning can really reinforce what they’re learning at their desks. But teaching outside the classroom can be tough, and this experience showed how to handle curveballs like bad weather while still meeting educational objectives.”
Setting expectations
Many participants arrived at Sand Island, the put-in for the San Juan River near Bluff, Utah, uncertain about what lay ahead. Shostak immediately set the tone by clearly outlining the program's objectives, demonstrating the importance of setting clear expectations – an essential skill they could apply in their own classrooms.
Burns, now approaching his ninth year as a teacher, was drawn to the program as a way to revitalize his career. On the first day, Shostak asked the group what they hoped to gain from the course, and Burns knew his answer immediately.
“My teaching career was stagnating; I had lost my drive and felt burnt out,” Burns said. "I was hoping to find a new perspective on education and change how I do things. Throughout the trip, I focused on how to bring these new ideas into my classroom."
As the group floated down the desert canyon, each bend in the river offered a new learning opportunity, whether it was stopping at the renowned River House Site, located on the southeastern edge of Bears Ears National Monument, or hiking into Chinle Wash to view the mesmerizing Baseball Man pictograph. 
While the group was given writing assignments, the emphasis was on mindfulness and reflection. Each morning began with a mindfulness exercise that started at about four minutes and increased daily– encouraging participants to absorb and contemplate what they were seeing and experiencing fully.
“Those mindful exercises were huge for me,” said Anna Hersey, an English and drama teacher at Pagosa Springs High School. “Teaching English, we get bogged down in the classroom, talking about the outside world and other people’s perspectives and experiences through literature, but we’re not actually out there seeing any of it ourselves.”
The Educators on the Water program inspired Hersey to consider how place-based learning could enrich her literature curriculum. While sitting along the San Juan River, she envisioned tying a Henry David Thoreau poem about the beauty of nature to a location near Pagosa Springs. She also contemplated the possibility of reading Edward Abbey, who focuses his work on the Southwest, and then taking her students to visit the very landscapes described in the text.
“I realized we can talk about things in a classroom, but it’s not nearly as impactful standing there in front of it,” Hersey said. “I thought more and more about how to make these lessons more real and meaningful for my students.” 
Teaching post-COVID
All educators agreed that capturing and maintaining students' attention has become one of the biggest challenges, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the increasing prevalence of smartphones, which have significantly impacted attention spans.
“Classroom management is a huge part of the job,” Hersey said. “I spend a quarter of the school year practicing classroom management, getting our routine dialed in, and then holding people accountable. It’s been so much harder the past four years.”
As the hot summer days wore on, participants began to wonder whether experiential learning could provide a solution by getting kids out of their desks and more engaged. By immersing students in real-world environments and activities, could active learning experiences rekindle students' curiosity and enthusiasm?
"Ask any teacher, and they'll tell you that kids are more engaged and retain information better when they're actively participating rather than just listening to you talk,” Burns said. "This trip taught me that we don't have to go outside every day, but if you throw in memorable, positive experiences even once a month, it can make a big impact. Kids remember the highs and lows, so those special moments are what they'll take away.”
Every year, Archer takes a class of Mancos students to Chaco Canyon National Historical Park in New Mexico for a multi-day learning experience. One key takeaway from Educators on the Water he plans to implement in his own trips is the emphasis on reflection after each experience.
"Encouraging students to internalize what they've learned transforms it from just a field trip into a meaningful learning opportunity,” he said.
Now, teachers have the rest of the summer to consider ways to bring outdoor learning to their classrooms. Archer, for instance, said he’s going to take more advantage of the asset right outside his classroom door the Mancos River.
"This experience pushed the envelope on some of my practices and made me rethink how I set things up,” he said. “After teaching for a long time, it's easy to fall back on familiar methods, and I'm always trying to avoid getting stale in the classroom. We have a river running through the backside of our school, and we should be using that space more often.”
As for Burns, who set out on the trip hoping to rekindle his passion for teaching, he is now excited to return to the classroom and apply what he learned.
“This program truly helped me see things differently,” he said.
Educating educators
Lorien Chambers Schuldt, chair and associate professor of Teacher Education at FLC, said the workforce developing program enhances educators' teaching skills and provides them with much-needed respite from a regular classroom.
“It's a really unique professional development opportunity, and I think it's notable that for the first educators' course, we had wide geographic interest from districts in Durango, Pagosa Springs, Mancos, Ignacio, and even Farmington,” she said. “That demonstrates a need for this type of workforce development in our region.”
“We're hoping it'll become a repeat adventure. We know teachers need local and regional opportunities to continue their profession to continue their professional growth, and they often struggle to find affordable options," she said.