Typical Day at SUWS

A typical day at SUWS will vary depending on whether our students are engaged in hiking or layover days.

Hiking Days

On a typical morning during hiking days, students emerge from their tents at 7 a.m., take care of their basic hygiene needs and make breakfast. After breakfast, they pack up camp and gather together to share both their long and short-term goals for the day, as well as participate in morning reflection.

Students will then hike 4-5 miles through the beautifully picturesque Bennett Hills of southern Idaho, where they will experience Native American history, visit ancient petroglyphs, walk through tribal territories and educate themselves on the history of the land. Students are able to draw inspiration from their surroundings as they climb mountaintops and descend into canyons, all while stopping for frequent health checks and metaphorical group discussions to develop further insight. These hiking days occur five days out of the week.

When a hiking day is complete, students eat lunch and set up camp. During the afternoon, they will be allotted time to work on the SUWS “curriculum”, which focuses on physical aspects of the program including primitive skills, knot tying, geography and animal tracking. Students are not only allowed to earn academic credit during these hiking days, but are also provided with free time to allow for bonding, creativity and personal growth.

Around 6 p.m., the students prepare and eat dinner, as well as meet with their field instructor to follow up on their treatment plans. A period of reflection also occurs around the campfire before bedtime at 10 p.m.

Layover Days

Two days a week, students are stationed at a campsite where their days are structured around the following activities:

• Meeting with their primary therapist for individual and group therapy sessions
• Engaging in hands-on therapeutic activities such as ropes courses, equine therapy and service projects (INCLUDE LINK HERE TO SERVICE PROJECTS)
• Working on primitive skills such as trap building and bow drilling
• Enjoying a free period to do laundry, write letters, play games and take showers

Sample Weekly Schedule For Adolescent

There is nothing typical about your child’s routine at SUWS, as each group is designed with the specific needs of the students in mind. However, what is typical about our program is that the majority of our students walk away from their time spent with SUWS as a more developed and compassionate member of society.