Intermediate/Middle School

Whitewater kayaking, one of the sports offered through the Tri-Sport Adventure Club is designed specifically for IMS students who are serious about whitewater paddling. Students practice basic whitewater kayaking skills as sessions move from the Heathwood Pond to class I and II rapids on the Saluda River. Paddlers learn paddle strokes, self- and team-rescue techniques, and river reading skills.

Climbing, one of the sports offered through the Tri-Sport Adventure Club is designed specifically for IMS students who are serious about climbing in all venues -- rock faces, climbing walls and ropes courses. Students practice basic climbing skills on the Alpine Tower, on the Odyssey course, and on the climbing wall at Heathwood, and on the 50-foot rock climbing wall at Stronghold Athletic Club. Climbers learn skills related to climbing, belaying, and high angle rescue.

Mountain biking, one of the sports offered through the Tri-Sport Adventure Club is designed specifically for IMS students who are serious about riding their bikes. Students ride on local single-track trails, learning how to climb and descend effectively. Students also learn about basic bike mechanics.

The Backcountry Club is a program designed specifically for IMS students who are serious about camping and backing. Students learn camping and backpacking skills including campsite selection, tent set up, cooking, route finding, selecting and packing a backpack, and basic wilderness first aid.

Archery Club is a program designed specifically for IMS students who are serious about archery. Archery Club takes place during the month of March. Students practice olympic-style archery with Genesis bows and aluminum arrows on the PEAK Archery Range.

The Fishing program is designed specifically for IMS students who are serious about fishing. Students learn and practice a variety of freshwater fishing techniques, including spin fishing and fly fishing, catch-and-release practices, fish identification.

During this three-day discovery adventure, students continue their study of South American human culture through a series of adventure activities staged at Camp Gravatt. Students also visit sites of ecological interest in the surrounding area, learning about the local flora and fauna from trained guides at the sites.

Learning about how cultures developed by earlier inhabitants of our continent is the focus of the trip. From the clans of prehistoric man to tribes of Native Americans to colonial civilization, human culture in the western hemisphere has been shaped by man’s interaction with his immediate environment. Cultures develop as individuals interact with one another in their quest to find life’s most basic necessities -- food and shelter. Once a group’s most immediate needs are met, interactions with other groups foster trade and exchange of ideas. In this manner, cultural ideals are established, spread, modified, and enhanced over time.

Students stay in cabins at the Gravatt Adventure and Discovery Center. Camp Gravatt, a member of the Episcopal Camps and Conference Centers, Inc., is located about an hour from Columbia, near Aiken, SC.

While at Gravatt, students participate in initiative activities on low and high ropes course elements designed to foster an understanding of how human dependence on one another leads to cultural development.

The PEAK staff and fifth grade teaching team plan the curriculum and activities. Cost for the Fifth Grade Trip is $245.

Click here for a Photo Album of this great trip!

The entire sixth grade class travels to a camp in the low country where they begin their search for the answer to the essential question How does natural history influence human culture?

Throughout the year, sixth graders study colonial history. During the trip students learn about coastal ecology that has shaped the low country of the state by traveling by ferry through creeks and marshes on Edisto Island. Students learn of low country human culture by visiting downtown Charleston, at night -- on a Ghost Tour! Students also visit the colonial, civil war, and current military outposts in Charleston.

The PEAK staff along with the teachers on the 6th grade team plan the curriculum and activities. Cost for the Low Country Discovery Trip is $245.

Click here for a Photo Album of this great trip

The entire seventh grade class travels to Camp Arrowhead in North Carolina where they participate in experiential learning activities designed to foster self-confidence, self-reliance, and team building by taking advantage of a 7th grader's inherent energy, and desire for adventure and challenge.

Climbing, paddling, hiking, camping, adventure racing, and other activities offer physical, intellectual and emotional challenge and opportunity for reflection, group discussion, and journaling.

The PEAK staff and seventh grade teaching team plan the curriculum and activities. Cost for the 7th Grade Adventure Challenge Trip is $245.

Click here for a Photo Album of this great trip

The adventure this year is going to hit you in the face like a splash of cold river water – water from the US National Whitewater Center in Charlotte to be exact. For the past few years, 8th graders at Heathwood have started the year with a rafting adventure in an effort to integrate new class members with old ones, build a sense of community among the class, and strengthen individual and collective confidence through a fun and challenging experience.

Students leave from the parking lot at Adventure Base Camp at 8am sharp on Monday, August 24. The group travels to the U.S. National Whitewater Center located in Charlotte, NC. The recently opened Center boast the largest man-made circulating whitewater river in the world and serves as the training venue for our Olympic paddlers.

Cost for the Rafting Trip is $95.

This trip is specifically designed for 8th graders, offering a healthy blend of challenge, adventure, and social interaction. In addition, the experience uniquely combines cultural and historical educational components with an experiential opportuity to practice fundamental elements of leadership.

The trip is four days in length, and, in addition to being outdoor and expeditionary in nature, also offers opportunity for students to learn about the ecological and historical aspects of the Appalanchian Mountains. It offers an opportunity for students to visit cultural locations in downtown Hendersonville, NC. Students are also treated to a live bluegrass music concert by a local bluegrass band while immersed in a fascinating landscape of waterfalls, exposed rock faces, and rare semi-tropical plant and animal life found nowhere else on earth.

Historical, scientific, and cultural spects aside, this experience provides hands-on leadership opportunity with guidance from qualified teachers and instructors, putting into play curricular aspects of the skills and information learned in Outdoor Education classes.

Students travel to Camp Pinnacle in Flat Rock, North Carolina. Pinnacle serves as a base camp for the week. An excursion to Sliding Rock offers an exciting and adventuresome opportunity on the first day.

After a hearty dinner at Camp Pinnacle, students are briefed for their overnight expedition and begin packing their backpacks with personal and group gear needed on the camp out.

After a comfortable night in cabins, students embark on a 2-day/1-night backpacking trip coupled with a geo caching experience. Students are dividied into small groups and individual students in each group put into play the critical skills they have learned throughout the year in Outdoor Education class. These skills include: packing and managing a backpack, meal preparation, campsite management, navigation, and issues related to Leave No Trace (LNT) practices.

Hiking, camping and rock climbing offer physical, emotioal, and intellectual challenge and require courage and healthy risk-taking, which in turn develops confidence and character. After the backpack expedition, students return to base camp for a hot shower and perhaps a well deserved trip into Brevard for ice cream.

Following another delicious dinner Camp Pinnacle, students are treated to live bluegrass music by a local band.

On Friday, students awake from their bunk beds, eat a hearty breakfast, then participate in a series of adventure activities that include rock climbing, mountain biking, fly fishing, or a waterfall hike. After the morning adventure activities, students visit downtown Hendersonville for lunch before returning to Heathwood.

Cost for this trip is $260, plus money for snacks in Brevard on Thursday and lunch in Hendersonville on Friday.