Mountain Valley High School students Grady Mack, foreground, and Keagan Boucher canoe this summer on the Androscoggin River in Errol, New Hampshire. The two are participants in Falcon Camp, a summer program offering camping, biking and canoeing trips for students at Mountain Valley High School in Rumford. Submitted photo

RUMFORD — Nineteen Mountain Valley High School students enjoyed hiking, biking and canoeing in northern New England this summer, compliments of the Falcon Camp, a program offering camping, biking and canoeing trips led by Regional School Unit 10 teachers Karen Wilson and Todd Papianou.

The couple was advised three years ago by Amy Scott of Maine West that the nonprofit organization provides grants to get students outside to exercise and build skills, among other goals. This year, Maine West donated $20,000 to cover all camp expenses. Wilson also credited the school district for supporting the camp, providing vans for transportation and the school parking lot as a staging area for the day camps.

Wilson and Papianou also made use of the high school’s year-round Outing Club equipment.

The first week started July 22, teaching freshmen hiking, canoeing and biking.

“So, we did two days of day camp here at Mountain Valley High School, and then we did an overnight camping trip where students did a hike in Grafton Notch and then they did a canoe (trip) up in Wilson Mills on the Magalloway River,” Wilson said. Students learned to cook outdoors, build fires and “all of the things that you do around camping,” she said.

The second week was mountain biking for students who had received instruction in the high school’s physical education program or students who have participated in the after-school Outing Club, both taught by Papianou. They spent two days biking in New Hampshire and a day in Vermont.

Emmet Logsdon, left, Grady Mack, center, and Keagan Boucher learn outdoor cooking, campfire and canoeing skills during the Falcon Camp’s summer program for students of Mountain Valley High School in Rumford. Outings were held in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. Submitted photo

The third week was five days and four nights for seven students who had experience in canoeing and tenting. They paddled across Lake Umbagog, which straddles the Maine-New Hampshire border, to the Rapid River in northern Oxford County. They spent one night in Errol, New Hampshire, and canoed the Class 1 and 2 rapids on the Androscoggin River, which starts at Lake Umbagog.

“They got to run their canoes through that as like their graduation (from learning canoeing skills),” Wilson said, and “did fantastically.”

Papianou, who is registered Maine Guide, said the group was one of the easier ones they have had. He attributed that to “operating in good style, like your tent is set up straight, you’re able to function and get up in the morning and you help with either cooking or cleaning.”

“It wasn’t a trip that was a tremendous amount of work for us because (the students) took responsibility for a lot of things that needed to be done each day,” such as meal preparation, cooking and cleanup,” Wilson said.

Mountain Valley High School students learn biking skills this summer during the Falcon Camp’s biking, hiking  and canoeing program for students at Mountain Valley High School in Rumford. The students traveled to New Hampshire and Vermont. Submitted photo

The couple also set travel and camping goals for participants of Falcon Camp.

The students are in an environment, “whether its socially or economically, where a lot of kids don’t leave Oxford County; a lot of kids don’t leave Rumford, Maine,” Papianou said.

One of his goals has been bringing them to Acadia National Park and Baxter State Park to provide skills for activities such as rock climbing, paddling, mountains hiking or bike riding, he said.

Other goals, Wilson said, are reaching students who may not be involved in sports or other school clubs and who may appreciate a place where they feel like they fit in.” She said she is seeking to increase participation for girls in Falcon Camp. Four girls participated this year.

“We’ve had some challenges with that before with girls feeling like they don’t fit into the group, so this year was very successful that way, and we want to continue to expand that to really reach everybody as much as we can,” Wilson said.