A Wolverine tradition: D-NH trip to Lanesboro still thriving nearly two decades later

By: 
Robert Maharry

It’s a rite of passage for Dike-New Hartford eighth graders, and it’s a source of some of their greatest school memories. It’s the annual end of year trip to Lanesboro, Minnesota—a hilly, naturally beautiful community in the southeast corner of the state.
           
“A lot of the older people tell us about it and get us all excited for it,” student Isabelah Friedley said last Thursday, a day after returning. “It was really fun.”
           
For three days, eighth graders make the trip just north of the state line and visit the Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center just outside of town, staying overnight and enjoying a bonding experience with classmates before heading off to high school in the fall. The curriculum mixes history (specifically, pioneer life), wildlife and lessons on team building through hands-on adventures like geocaching, zip lining and night hikes. Self-improvement is a core aspect of the trip, which has been a yearly tradition for almost two decades, and cell phones are strictly prohibited.
           
At night, the students stay in a dorm like facility that recalls the summer camps of old, sit around the campfire, tell ghost stories and hold “riff-offs.” 
 
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