By Dan Minnich | Executive Director & Co-Founder
As the seasons turn from summer to fall to winter, Waypoint is all geared up for our 2025-2026 school year programming. Every year, we partner with school districts and individual schools throughout Eastern Massachusetts and Western North Carolina. Our special education classroom-based programming represents about 40% of our overall annual programming. Boston Public Schools and Somerville Public Schools in Massachusetts are two of our largest long-standing clients.
Waypoint’s school programming is unique in that we work in close partnership with teachers and administrators to build upon what the students are already learning in the classroom. Our programs use adventure experiences such as hiking, indoor and outdoor rock climbing, indoor & outdoor kayaking, backpacking overnights, and more, to further social and emotional classroom goals set by the teacher. These goals are often to build skills such as problem solving, perseverance, cooperation and decision making. Teachers then reinforce these learning goals back in the classroom by highlighting students’ experiences. Our programs are often the only time these students experience outdoor adventure and activities not centered on their disability.
Among others, one goal of our programs is to provide opportunities for teamwork, where participants make both individual and group decisions. Many children and young adults with disabilities aren't given opportunities to make decisions about what they want, the freedom to advocate for those choices, or opportunities to think about the group and what is best for the whole. This and other factors often lead to performance far below actual ability (e.g. learned helplessness). Due to an inability to accommodate their needs, children and adults with disabilities are frequently denied access to the vital experiential opportunities that their non-disabled peers use to develop emotional maturity, social skills, self-efficacy, as well as physical and psychological well-being. In short – the tools many of us use to develop our identities, discover who we are, and pursue our fullest potential.
Waypoint Adventure is here to free what’s possible in the lives of people with disabilities. Everyone at Waypoint passionately believes that these experiences can become a cornerstone of confidence and achievement throughout life. Waypoint is where “I can’t” becomes “Yes, I can”!
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