Two-week summer immersion programs in iconic wilderness areas such as Yosemite and Olympic National Parks, which include seven days of guided, place-based field education, as well as an intensive six-day extended wilderness backpacking or sea kayaking adventure led by trained volunteers. Students participate in wilderness recreation experiences including hiking, paddling, camping, rock climbing, and team building, and they learn essential camping skills such as how to use and care for their gear, survival skills, and “Leave No Trace” principles. Participants also learn about the history of the area, engage in hands-on forest ecology and carbon lessons, and have several opportunities to reflect upon and share their experience. Through these experiences, students establish a strong connection with nature, develop relationships with mature, stable adults outside of the family structure, and emerge from the program with a stronger sense of the wider world and their ability to function effectively within it, as well as renewed drive to succeed against all odds.