Wilderness Expedition Begins Mapping a Route to its 40th Anniversary in 2009

It has been 39 years since three Cranbrook social studies teachers—determined to offer their class more than textbook learning—started what is known today as the Cranbrook Kingswood Wilderness Expedition, or simply “Wilderness.” Since that very first year, Wilderness has been one of the most influential and memorable experiences in the lives of the faculty and students who have participated in it.

On Saturday, June 13, 2009, Wilderness will celebrate its 40th year as part of the 2009 Alumni Reunion Weekend.
We hope that you can attend this very special event whether you participated as a sophomore, a student co-leader, or a faculty leader. We also are inviting you to send us your Wilderness stories and pictures even if you are not able to personally attend. These will be gathered up for sharing at the reunion.

A Wilderness web hub has been created at schools.cranbrook.edu/Wilderness. There you will find instructions for submitting stories and photos, a tool for updating your information, and the latest information on event registration. You also will find a remarkable article written by long-time Wilderness leader Jan Reelitz.

In March of this year, 90 sophomores and 40 faculty and student leaders continued to uphold the Wilderness tradition in the Nantahalah and Cherokee National Forests in North Carolina and Tennessee. Join us next year to celebrate 40 years of the program that has proven to be so formative in the lives of so many.