A ropes course that lays the groundwork for friendship and trust

GILFORD — It’s an unorthodox way to build trust — but perhaps not when seen in action. Under a bright fall sun at 10 a.m., groups of 10 to 12 first-year students from Gilford High School, with the advisers they’ll have for the next four years, are going through trials of risk, bravery, faith and teamwork by completing something they never imagined would be the opening act for ninth grade.

They are traversing the low and high ropes courses at Gunstock Adventure Park.

“It feels like I’m some Tarzan-type thing,” said Izabelle Hoitt, whizzing across a metal line suspended between trees.

Would she do this again, even though some parts of the course, such as a spinning board and a path of twisting slats suspended in mid-air, look impassable and more than slightly scary? “Heck, yeah!”

“I had to talk myself through stuff so I wouldn’t freak out,” said a girl in a gray sweatshirt.

“The idea is to get through it, then say it wasn’t so bad,” said Mike Briggs, a guide at Gunstock Mountain Resort, who has heard everything from squeals of joy to shrieks of terror from kids on the course.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” said Thomas Smithers, perched with two other ninth grade boys on a platform halfway up a tree during the Tuesday outing. “All of us are afraid of heights. You get rid of your fear and find out you can do it.”

"It felt awkward at first to turn to kids you don’t know for help," Nick Sanborn said. "But at the same time, it was chance to make friends.”

In the wake of a yearlong pandemic that lingered into the next year, carving new levels of anxiety and isolation and a changed teenage world, high schools like Gilford are looking for ways to forge a happier, looser new normal — with opportunities for interaction, cooperation and connections outside the classroom that require kids to venture outside their comfort zones — and have fun doing it.

At Gunstock, the challenge on the lattice of slats, swings, wires and ropes dangling above the forest floor is as much mental as it is social and physical. Teens who may be reluctant to take chances alone or with others are breaking new ground by working in teams, figuring out joint solutions, and communicating one-on-one with students they never knew or even encountered in passing. They are partnering with kids they might only see in the halls. It's a mishmash of Gilford and Gilmanton students who are together for the first time in high school.

“This activity for freshmen builds connections with their advisers, and new relationships from day one,” said Kelly Caravona, the crisis counselor at Gilford High. “It’s about the power of human connection — a power that lies within building trust. When you’re doing a ropes course, it forces you to have a positive attitude, and do it together. You’re working with a little bit of everyone, and talking with a little bit of everyone. It’s an opportunity to expand your peer network and your friendship circle.”

It also responds to requests that came back from a survey of parents, staff and students, who overwhelmingly wanted more opportunities for outdoor programming to help children emerge from pandemic inertia, any lingering inactivity and their personal cocoons.

Completing a rickety above-ground course with moving pieces can feel like navigating a human spider web. But it brings self-esteem and confidence from facing new challenges and taking risks together. 

It creates a “sense of belonging,” Caravona said. “Activities like this are really conducive to making connections in some nontraditional ways.”

“Just the idea of adventure education, it’s about growing and learning together. Maybe they’ll meet someone they’ll know going forward, and remember going through the ropes course,” said Brandt O’Hara, a physical education teacher and coach at Gilford High. “We call this challenge by choice. They can go on the low course and build their way up, and go home and have that memory.”

Schools are still experiencing some impacts of COVID, which have had ripple effects on social-emotional life and student behavior, according to counselors and educators who work with children at different ages.

“Schools are trying to find ways to put guardrails back in place,” Caravona said, by creating safe but interesting situations that create a sense of being in something together.

In COVID's aftermath, Caravona said she sees many students working hard to make face-to-face connections, whether by walking up to kids sitting alone in the cafeteria and asking them to join their table, or mustering the courage to sit with a new group and introducing themselves.

“I see them working hard to make sure others are included, and putting themselves out there." At the same time, teachers are striving “to create environments that are welcoming and warm,” Caravona said.

Over the past two years, “These students have been thrown many curve balls,” said Gilford High School Principal Anthony Sperazzo. “In getting back to normalcy, we’re trying to lay a strong foundation in what it means to be a successful student, how to act like a student and use your resources.” 

He said group challenges like the ropes course are also a way to bring the district’s “portrait of a learner” to life, which entails being self-directed, curious and collaborative and thinking critically.

“We’re trying to drive that message home,” he said.

The goal is to offer similar experiences to fourth and eighth graders, with courage, connection and collaboration as happy results, Sperazzo said.