YORK COUNTY, Pa. — Not everyone learns the same way. Some people are visual learners, others learn by reading or writing.
And then there are people that need to take a different approach.
At Yellow Breeches Educational Center (YBEC), they take an experiential learning approach with five campuses across Pennsylvania serving special education students in 12 grade levels.
Once a week, Yellow Breeches takes their students off campus for adventure-based learning at places like Roundtop Mountain Resort.
“I never thought I would actually be doing this type of stuff, and then I decided let’s try it out,” said senior Ayden Abrahams.
“They’ll have this opportunity to go skiing or snowboarding and just like any skier or snowboarder, they’re falling down a lot, they’re struggling, but they eventually get it, (and) they realize not only did they do something hard, like 'I can do hard things,'” said Tom Rowan, the adventure programming director at YBEC. ”And then, ideally in the future, you do that enough times that translates back into the classroom, whether it’s math class or language arts, or hopefully back into their community or into their home lives as well."
Thanks to Vail Resort’s “Epic for Everyone” program, YBEC students will get five days of skiing or snowboarding, at no cost to them.
“This is an opportunity to get them out, show them the mountain, show them the opportunities that are out there and just expand our sport,” said Ted McDowell, general manager at Roundtop Mountain Resort.
Epic for Everyone serves nearly 11,300 underrepresented youth annually, providing them access to a sport they might not have the opportunity to experience otherwise.
It’s an opportunity that’s not lost on the students and staff.
“It’s a rare opportunity, and you pretty much can’t do this at public school,” said Jayden Logan.
For Abrahams, it’s a great way to spend a school day.
“It’s fun, it’s a way to get out, it’s a way to be in nature,” said Abrahams. “It also gives you a great deal of freedom.”