As thousands of students across Rochester and western New York head back to class next week, a small group will start the school year in a unique way.
A dozen students are enrolled in a high school program based on the philosophies of Henry David Thoreau.
The Walden Project is based at Cumming Nature Center in Naples, where students study and work outdoors in the woods or on the trails much of the time, and in all kinds of weather.
"We don't have any tests; we don't have any grades," said Andy Webster, "and for a certain type of student, they just thrive in that environment."
Webster, Walden's director and one of its teachers, taught in public schools for about 10 years and felt something was missing.
"As a classroom teacher, I would look out and see students who were wanting to go deeper into the content that we were studying," he said, "but with the way the public school system works, you just don't have the opportunity to dive in deeply. Most of the focus is on test-based learning."
The Walden Project is based on a similar program in Vermont that's been around for 20 years. Students make their own lunches using vegetables they grow, and then cook it in a cob oven they built out of clay, sand, and straw.
They study the essential subjects -- English, math, social studies, science, health, physical education, and art -- but they also spend time sitting and "being present" in nature and reading from Thoreau's book on his two-year sojourn to Walden Pond.
"And our discussions meander and they bring in current events," Webster said. "They bring in science and political science and philosophy -- all sorts of different topics, all sort of interweaving."
But the core of the learning experience is based on the three questions Thoreau had in mind went he started his journey of self-relfection and self-reliance in 1845: What is my relationship to myself? What is my relationship to my culture? What is my relationship to the natural world?
The "year away" program counts as one year of high school, and tuition is based on income. Some of the students have been home-schooled and want more of a social experience.
Others, like Vick Clark, felt anxious or disengaged in a public school setting. Clark self-identifies as pansexual and gender fluid.
"And so public school was very hard for me," Clark explained, "not just because of the restriction on creativity and the restriction on being able to express myself, but also because of rampant transphobia and homophobia in small towns."
In its inaugural year, Walden served as a gap year for 21-year old Clark, who graduated from Wayland Cohocton High School in 2016.
Like the other students at Walden, Clark pursued a self-directed, independent research project. In this case, it focused on pioneers, feminism, and LGBTQ issues.
"I was able to explore myself and get credit for it and have proper feedback from someone who I respected as a teacher and respected as a person, rather than just get a grade and be done with it," Clark said.
A favorite memory for Clark is from when the students visited their sister school in Vermont.
"It wasn't snowing that day, but it got windy, and the trees above us started dropping snow," Clark said. "We had discussions as snow was on our face, and we just brushed the snow off our face and continued talking."
Clark feels more confident and able to share ideas and described Walden as not just a school, but also an experience.
The way Webster sees it, the opportunity to explore big and different ideas is part of the appeal of the program.
"I think that's something that Henry David Thoreau represents." he said. "He was a nonconformist, and he was challenging the system. He was questioning everything that seemed normal, and I think for teenagers, I think that's why they relate to Thoreau. He was basically trying to change the world."
The Naples-based Walden Project is entering its second year. A fundraiser to keep the school going recently netted $11,000. The original Walden Project in Vermont has served roughly 300 students in its 20 years of operation.
Founder Matthew Schlein said students who attended the program in Vermont have been 30% to 50% more likely to go on to college than their public high school peers.
