The Media Arts Program’s (MAP) long-awaited ropes course field trip tradition made a return after a 4-year hiatus due to the pandemic. On Oct. 26, sophomores in the MAP program visited Mount Hermon Adventures in Felton, which featured an exciting ropes course and zipline network. 

This outing was a beloved tradition that started in 2015. New to it this year were two new MAP teachers: media arts and digital photography teacher Carla Villela and history teacher Toby Remmers. 

“The field trip is a great way to bring students together in order to build community, and to indicate that people can overcome their fears with the support of the people around them,” English teacher Marcos Cortez said. “This particular field trip has become a cherished MAP 10 tradition up until the pandemic hit, making its revival all the more meaningful.” 

This was the first time these three specific MAP teachers led the trip, and they asked students to give up their phones for the day. The students got to choose their own groups, as opposed to the teachers choosing them, like previous years.

This was part of an effort to offer students a respite from screens and provide them with a chance to bond with their peers in an outdoor setting, while simultaneously building trust. 

Since MAP is a group-oriented program, trust in others is a crucial attribute to learn. They may encounter stressful situations during group projects — such as losing video footage — and, during those times, students have to come together to support one another. This is why the field trip is valued: It creates an environment in which students can rely on one another, support one another and see the effects of that support, Cortez said.

Additionally, Cortez emphasized the key part of the field trip, which was a day away from phones. 

“Phones have deteriorated the learning process for students in a way that is so devastating. It is the most detrimental thing I’ve seen in 20 years of teaching,” Cortez said. “When I sit in a room with 18 students and the room is dead silent, because everybody’s on their phone, there’s something wrong with that. I care greatly about my students and I want to see them prosper, and I just think the phones are taking that away from them.” 

The MAP 10 students attending the field trip were divided in half, one group taking the ropes course, a series of challenging ropes and logs that the students had to balance on to get across, and the other group riding the six ziplines. Each group was only allowed to take whichever course they were assigned.

 “My group and I were all scared of heights but we encouraged each other and eventually all persevered and got through it together,” said sophomore Lucas Hawthorne, who was part of the ziplining group. “One of the ziplines stretched the span of a football field, and we were all very scared, but after cheering each other on we had a great time. Afterwards I felt much closer with my group members and trusted them a whole lot more than the start. It was an incredible experience.”