Relieving his combat boots of duty, Prudden scampers barefoot, leading a platoon of seventh-grade boys over the rocks. By summer, most of the snakes have left their winter dens and descended into the forest, but from within the dark crevices, an occasional rattle can be heard. Each step is filled with potential danger, and not just from snakes; any misstep could lead to a bad fall.
Consequences of the choices we make and steps we take are at the heart of this hike, whether these boys—students from the Washington Jesuit Academy (WJA) in Washington, DC—know it or not.
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Nestled in a remote hollow of the Catoctins near Thurmont, ThorpeWood is 155 acres of trails, meadows, wetlands, and trout streams. With its chestnut orchard, arboretum, stable of Icelandic horses, and environmentally sensitive timber-framed lodge, it’s the kind of place that would’ve made Thoreau’s head spin.
Metaphors are inherent in this natural setting. The lessons, however, are from a curriculum handcrafted by Prudden and tailored for WJA—the first of six partnerships in ThorpeWood’s Secondary Growth Program. From summer 2007 to spring 2009, these boys, 26 in total, will return to the mountains during their seventh- and eighth-grade years, participating in Manhood and Leadership retreats. Spending 16 days and 10 nights over six separate visits, they’ll build upon the character-development lessons taught at WJA.
“The goal of this program with WJA is to support their instilling in the men the habits of acting in the Jesuit tradition and help in the process of boys becoming men for others,” says Prudden.
The boys of WJA, predominately African American and all from the DC-metro area, face a number of common challenges. Many come from low-income households, have had family members incarcerated, and grapple with abandonment issues.
“We go over all kinds of things you don’t learn in the classroom,” says Matt Ormiston, assistant headmaster at WJA. “How to respect others, how to be responsible, how to accept correction, how to handle conflict. We do all those kinds of lessons. But they tend to be in the 20 minutes a day of advisory. Taking it out to ThorpeWood allows us to take those lessons and really draw them into an hour and a half, or a week, or longer.”
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While ThorpeWood’s setting provides a beautiful backdrop for these lessons, it’s not the focus.
“People think of youth development in a setting like this one way: a camp or field-trip experience. We’re not those things,” says Sam Castleman, president of ThorpeWood. “Yes, we do camping kinds of things, but those boys are spending four to five hours a day at lessons. Our programs are intended to create relationships: multiple experiences, the same teachers, over a minimum of two years—then you make an impact. You don’t do anything by having kids come and have five hours of running around in the woods.”
Not that the power of those woods can be denied. “It’s almost a question of the karma the buildings and facilities themselves have. It’s all very calm and safe and reassuring,” says Prudden. “That allows the kids to behave in ways, or at least invites them to behave in ways they don’t get to in school.”
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