CCPA 9th-Graders Come Together in the Great Outdoors

While CCPA’s 10th-graders were bonding around a common college-minded vision, our 9th-graders were coming together at one of California’s natural wonders: Yosemite National Park.

“It was fun even though I’m normally not a nature type of person,” says Michelle of her class’s three-day adventure at Yosemite. “It really brought the 9th grade together. [Out of our element] we had to stick together and make sure everybody else was okay. Some people weren’t people I would normally hang out with, so I made new friends.”

They also learned what they were capable of, fortitude-wise, particularly during their 5-mile group hike up to Vernal Falls. “I don’t give up that easily, even though it was hard going up the mountain,” says Michelle’s classmate Ericka. Not only did they face a daunting incline, they also got soaked by the falls, which cascaded dramatically thanks to recent downpours. “We thought it would just be mist,” says Michelle, “but we wound up having to wear rain jackets and everything.”

Ericka says the kids later used the grueling hike as motivation for future schoolwork. “We applied it to a test we had to take, and realized the test was going to be much easier!”