Auspicious Alums:
-Susan Meiselas, photojournalist and MacArthur Fellow.
-Conrad Anker, world-class mountaineer known for breakthrough first ascents from the Himalayas to Antarctica and Patagonia, author of The Lost Explorer.
-Tamim Ansary, author of West of Kabul, East of New York,  post- 9/11 spokesperson for the plight of the Afghanis.

For adventurous teens only, the 51-year-old Colorado Rocky Mountain School (CRMS) integrates outdoor education with traditional classroom activities. Nestled at the base of a 13,000-foot mountain at the intersection of two rivers, CRMS requires students to participate in either a work or outdoor program four afternoons each week.

The former may include carpentry work on school buildings, fixing electrical problems or helping with the recycling. True, this component of the curriculum may appeal more to parents than to students at the outset. “I don’t get kids who say, ‘gosh I can’t wait to enroll here, because it’s going to be great to scrub that toilet,’” admits headmaster Andrew Menke, but he has discovered, as the year wears on, that many of the students voice pride in their contributions to the school’s legacy.

The outdoor program entails full immersion in the wilderness at the school’s doorstep. Mandatory outings include a 10-day orientation trip for new students, as well as biannual extended trips to locations like Moab, Utah and Crested Butte, Colo. Recent trips have combined geological study with rock climbing, kayaking with aquatic studies, and the study of environmental literature with camping.

Miller, who was a student leader on one such expedition, recalls the learning experience that occurred during the middle of the trip, when she had to escort a student who had broken her ankle back home. The path they had taken was too long, so Miller grabbed a topographical map and calculated a new route out, through a backcountry thick with vegetation. “There’s a level of accountability that’s expected which is not common in many schools,” she notes.