In Trekkers tradition, I asked Addie McPhail, the newly-appointed Student Board Member, “would you rather be on an expedition in the blazing heat or in frigid temperatures?” McPhail replied, “Frigid temps – because I feel like I could always get warmer – it’s just logical. I like to be doing an activity [in the] cold…and have layers so when I get sweaty, I can cool off and keep doing whatever I’m doing. But you also might be able to be more fashionable that way.”

McPhail is a junior at Camden Hills, who also does Girl Scouts, is a student leader at Trekkers on top of her new Board of Directors position. She says at the beginning, she “didn’t like Trekkers very much because I didn’t have a lot of good friends. Like I had a lot of friends from St. George, but not really from Oceanside.” After the 7th grade expedition, McPhail was ready to quit, but her parents got her to stick with it. Then, in 8th grade, she started to make more friends. “It’s really fun [when] you make some friends.”

Leaning into her new role as a Board Member, McPhail sees it as an opportunity to share her voice and perspective as a student with the Board of Directors. She said, “like pronoun use, there’s a lot of things older people might not think about,” and feels she “could bring light to the things that matter to kids now. Making sure everyone knows how to make kids feel comfortable…Even sexuality – that’s a big thing for people [and creating] equality - because we’re all different.” She sees her role as “the bridge from board to youth.”

She is also a student who experienced Trekkers before and through the pandemic. She credits Trekkers for “how [they] focused on teamwork and collaborating, and always trying to be positive. For a lot of kids, especially in my group, whenever we had a meeting during COVID, everyone was so excited to be going on an outing…it was just so exciting to see new faces, even if we all had masks on…or [meeting] on zoom…Honestly, Trekkers was the break we needed from everything that was going on in the world, so I feel like Trekkers definitely helped me keep my calm, and not freak out about what was going on. It kind of helped me be social with people and not be so isolated.”

Asked about her favorite Trekkers traditions, McPhail says, “we always make such great food…a lot of times, we’ll be on the Trekkers bus and play Mafia - all the games are just so much fun.” She says “everything in Trekkers is like a ritual, because you always do it, but it’s always different memories each time.”

Trekkers is honored to have McPhail join the Board of Directors, where she’ll be a critical decision-maker for the organization and will join the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, as they begin deeper policy and training efforts.

About Trekkers: For over 25 years, non-profit organization Trekkers has been dedicated to helping young people thrive. Through its unique six-year mentoring and expeditionary learning program, research shows Trekkers helps students increase their ability to be resilient, build positive relationships, and develop aspirations for the future. To learn more, visit the website at trekkers.org.