Environmental Stewardship and Service in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom

Vermont, our idyllic, crunchy neighbor to the northwest, might be known for fall foliage and spring maple sugar, but there’s more going on here than just postcard New England. Vermont is a place of deep connection to the rhythms of the natural world, where close communities live close to the land. Never has this truth been more palpable than in the midst of the catastrophic flooding Vermont experienced in the summers of 2023 and 2024 where the confluence of climate resilience and catastrophe offer an extraordinary service-learning opportunity for students to think about what it means to live well in a place.

This eight-day learning expedition to Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom offers a deep dive into the nuances of environmental stewardship and service, particularly through the lens of climate change in New England. Using the historical sporting camp Quimby Country Cottages as a hub for experiences and conversations, our days will comprise engagement with a variety of topics, individuals, organizations, community projects, and case studies. Visit the Abanaki Arts and Education Center in Holland, VT to speak with Abenaki elder and former Vice Chair of the State Commission of Native American Affairs, Carol Irons. Mountain bike the famed Kingdom Trails while thinking about land management and ecotourism. Volunteer with Bald Mountain Meadow to plant a garden and discuss sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, and community resilience. Heft a rock bar and pulaski with the Green Mountain Club as you work to improve flood-damaged hiking trails, or paddle the Connecticut River with the CT River Conservancy as you plant bank-stabilizing silver maples. Attend a reading by National Outdoor Book of the Year-winning Vermont writer Sean Prentiss and connect with projects from the Vermont Rural Education Collaborative, the Northeast Wilderness Trust, the Silvio O. Conte National Wildlife Refuge, and the newly-formed FEMA center in Island Pond as you contemplate this region’s various environmental challenges and opportunities.

In the end, you will emerge from this interdisciplinary learning expedition having moved your body and mind through a complex cultural and biotic ecosystem, with a deep sense of place, of Vermont. You’ll also leave with a template for how to engage your home places in ways that offer mutual flourishing to human and nonhuman communities wherever you find them.

Logistics: Your program will commence and end on the Phillips Academy campus, departing campus via Academy vehicle the morning of Friday, June 6, and returning to campus the afternoon of Friday, June 13. If you require transportation assistance to and from campus, it can be arranged for an additional fee.