THOMASTON — Fifteen local 10th graders and four adult leaders completed a 12 day Cross-America Trekkers expedition on Aug. 8. As part of Team Puma with Trekkers, a youth-mentoring organization that connects young people and caring adults through expeditionary learning, the group traveled throughout Colorado and Utah, to explore the region’s environmental and cultural uniqueness.

To qualify for this expedition, the students were first required to complete a four-week prerequisite Life Skills Course last spring. Led by Program Manager Alaina Ennamorati, the students learned about resume-writing, interview etiquette, appropriate interview attire, and how to present themselves professionally to others. Each student created a resume to share with their interviewers. They dressed professionally and traveled to an area business where they participated in a 20-minute mock interview as if they were applying for employment there. Professionals from local companies, Fisher Engineering, Glen Cove Dental Associates, SoundVest Properties, Lonza Rockland, Machias Savings Bank and Trekkers hosted this year’s mock interviews at their workplaces in early April.

In addition to completing the Life Skills Course, the students also met collectively throughout the school year to plan their expedition around five educational components: community service, cultural awareness, environmental stewardship, wilderness exploration and adventure-based education. To incorporate these components, Team Puma met with representatives at the Cripple Creek and Victor Gold Mine; went whitewater rafting at Echo Canyon; took part in a cultural exchange with Native Americans at the Cortez Cultural Center; and hiked to Independence Pass at the Continental Divide at dawn. Their community service project was at the Food Bank of the Rockies in Denver, Colorado.

The Cross-America program is designed to give students the opportunity to explore firsthand the cultural and environmental uniqueness of a particular U.S. bio-region. To experience the area’s uniqueness Team Puma students and their mentors hiked and explored Arches National Park, Mesa Verde National Park, and Great Sand Dunes National Park to learn about the mineral deposits, the unique geological features, and the desert ecosystem there.

Program Manager Alaina Ennamorati explained the experience by saying, “The Cross America expedition presents such a unique opportunity, as students and mentors get to experience new and breathtaking, yet humbling landscapes that inspire deeper thinking, new perspectives, and an opportunity for reflection into where students are at in their lives and where they would like to lead themselves next.”

To see more pictures or read the trip log from the expedition, please visit trekkers.org and following the links to the 10th Grade Cross America Trekkers page. You can also view more photos by visiting Trekkers’ Facebook page: facebook.com/trekkersonline. If you’d like to learn more about Trekkers, please call 207-594-5095.