Day 5 | Acadia National Park: Coming Full Circle

Six years ago this week, we packed up our very first STEAM in the PARK at Acadia National Park. It was only a three-day experience, but something happened that week that none of us could fully explain. Thirty-two mostly strangers became friends. Educators rediscovered wonder. We watched nature do what it has always done so well—it slowed us down enough to notice each other. We drove away believing we had to do it again. Today, six years later, we wrapped up Camp 54 right back where it all began.

When people see STEAM in the PARK, they see the hikes, the ranger programs, the journals, the campfires, the wildlife, the laughter, and the friendships. They don't often see the behind-the-scenes pieces that keep me awake at night. Every camp comes with the same questions. Will enough people register? Will we be able to cover our expenses? Can we continue making these adventures affordable for educators while still sustaining the work of Expeditions in Education? Those questions never really go away. They travel with us from park to park, and every year we trust that somehow the path will become clear.

From the beginning, our dream has never been to build expensive experiences for a few people. Our dream has always been to find the funding and partners that would allow us to keep these adventures affordable while still covering the costs it takes to make them happen. We haven't fully figured that part out yet, but we haven't stopped believing we will. Every year we take another step forward, believing there are people who understand that investing in educators is one of the greatest investments we can make.

This week we learned that several of our campers found each other because they belonged to a club no one ever wants to join—the widows club. Watching them recognize one another, hug, cry, share stories, and simply understand each other without needing many words was one of the most beautiful moments of the week. You couldn't have planned it if you tried. It simply happened because they showed up.

Another educator came because of a recommendation from a roommate she met in Egypt two years ago. Several campers found us simply by searching the internet. One came because this school year had been particularly hard and she needed a place to breathe again. Others came because former campers quietly told them, "You need to go." Every person had a different reason for making the trip to Acadia, but every one of those roads led to the same place.

That matters.

Over and over again, we watch people who have never met become a community. They encourage one another on the trails, laugh around dinner tables, celebrate each other's victories, sit beside each other in the hard moments, and leave carrying friendships that will last long after the week is over. They return to classrooms across the country with renewed purpose, fresh ideas, and hearts that are just a little lighter than when they arrived. I don't think that's an accident. I think that's what happens when people are given the space to slow down, listen, and remember why they became educators in the first place.

We are confident this work is vital. We are confident educators need places like this. We are confident our national parks have something to teach that can't be found inside four classroom walls. We are also confident there is someone—or many someones—who believes in this mission and wants to help us continue the work we have started through Expeditions in Education. We simply haven't found all of those partners yet.

​If you've ever shared one of our posts, encouraged someone to attend, partnered with us, or simply believed in what we're doing, thank you. If you know a business, foundation, school district, or organization that believes educators deserve experiences like this, we would be grateful for an introduction. Or maybe your business, your family, or someone you know is looking for a way to make a lasting difference by investing in educators, students, and our national parks. We'd love the opportunity to share our mission and explore what that partnership could look like. Please help us spread the word. Six years ago this week, this was just an idea. Today, it is a community that continues to change lives, and we believe the best chapters are still ahead.

And now- we head off to Glacier National Park for Camp 9!