| HMI Semester | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Leadville, Colorado United States |
|
| Information | |
| Type | Private (Single Semester Boarding School for High School Juniors) |
| Established | 1998 |
| Head of school | Molly Barnes |
| Faculty | 12 |
| Grades | 11 |
| Enrollment | ~42 |
| Mascot | American Pika |
| Affiliation | The High Mountain Institute |
| Website | www.hminet.org |
The Rocky Mountain Semester welcomed its first class in 1998 with Molly and Christopher Barnes as its first directors. The program name changed in 2011 to term itself HMI Semester. The semester takes place on the High Mountain Institute campus in Leadville, CO. Since its inception, the HMI Semester has served as a unique opportunity for talented high school juniors to spend a semester living, traveling, and studying in the mountains of central Colorado and the canyons of southeastern Utah. Today, 42 students from schools all over the United States send students to the HMI Semester. Students spend five weeks over the course of the semester on three wilderness expeditions that focus on leadership and community-building and 12 weeks on campus completing a standard junior year curriculum. Admission is highly competitive and centers around so-called "sending schools" that have supported the Institute from its start.
The school offer an honors and AP-level curriculum to prepare students for their senior year and college. Courses are designed to match the content and rigor of sending schools. Class offerings include Literature of the Natural World, Natural Science, French and Spanish of varied academic level, United States History, AP United States History, Algebra 2, Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, and Calculus A, B, and C. The courses combine as a place-based curriculum that allows students to learn more about the intellectual, physical, and historical underpinnings of the Rocky Mountain region to create a pedagogy that diverges from that of most prep schools.
One of the more unique course offerings at the HMI Semester is termed Practices and Principles: Ethics of the Natural World. It combines the disparate elements of backcountry "hard skills" that students learn with a seminar-style ethics course focused on classical and contemporary environmental philosophy. Authors and thinkers considered in the course include Edward Abbey, Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, Louis Owens, Wendell Berry, Jack Turner and Ted Kerasote. In summation, the course aims to introduce Semester students to the precepts underlying the Institute's goal of being "simple in means, [yet] rich in ends," as stated by Arne Naess.
During the wilderness program, students travel to the canyons of Utah and the mountains of Colorado. They practice a high-level wilderness curriculum taught by their academic teachers, who are also experienced outdoor educators. In addition to camping skills, the HMI Semester uses expeditions to teach leadership concepts and build community. On campus, students chop their own wood to heat wood stoves in rustic cabins. They complete all chores on campus, and students cook dinners for the entire community community once per week.
Students also have a chance to get involved in their community of Leadville, Colorado by visiting the town once a week to do laundry, shop, and explore the history of what once was the second biggest city in Colorado. Community service projects also strengthen the bonds between the school and the town.
Graduates of the HMI Semester go on to attend top colleges across the nation. The top three schools attended by HMI Semester alumni are: Colorado College, Brown, and the University of Colorado.
In June 2008, the HMI Semester held its 10-year reunion. Alumni from each semester returned to campus for a weekend of work projects and celebration.
In essence, the HMI Semester combines some of the best qualities of an academic program at a rigorous boarding school with the adventure of a summer backpacking expedition.