Consolidation won’t affect Maine school

PORTLAND – A consolidation of Outward Bound schools across the nation won’t affect programs and courses offered by Maine’s Outward Bound School on Hurricane Island, school officials said last week.

The consolidation planned for independent Outward Bound schools will be mostly a streamlining of tasks, said Galen Todd, the school’s president.

Under a proposed consolidation, four Outward Bound schools and several smaller Outward Bound programs across the country would be merged under the Outward Bound USA banner as one national organization.

The consolidation is motivated partly by economics and partly by a need for efficiency. The boards of the Outward Bound schools have to vote on the consolidation, Todd said, and the 20 members of the Hurricane Island board will vote over the next two weeks.

Worldwide, more than 40 Outward Bound schools teach outdoor skills, such as sailing and mountain climbing. The schools have programs that stress the development of self-esteem and self-reliance.

Schools are based on a concept of experiential learning developed by educator Kurt Hahn, who founded the Outward Bound School in 1941.