Hi <Prospective Club>,
Thank you for inquiring about the High School
Hikers Program for your school. Presented here are some aspects for you
to consider.
The most difficult part of starting a new High School Hikers Club at a
school is getting a teacher to be the advisor. Teachers, as
you know, are over worked and many do not want to spend the extra time
to take students hiking on weekends.
Once you get a teacher to be the advisor, the
next thing is to get a hike leader to assist with the
club. A hiking club can be organized without being involved
with the High School Hikers program, but there are the advantages of
being a part of the High School Hikers program, such as:
1. Liability: Hiking can be
hazardous! The Sierra Club, of which the High School Hikers
program is a part, offers each hike leader a two million dollar
liability insurance. In the DOE, the teacher is covered by
one million dollar liability insurance by the state and another one
million by the National Teachers Association (NEA), of which all (DOE)
teachers are members. I'm not sure what the coverage is for
private school teachers. In either case, only the teacher is
covered by the insurance. Being a member of the High School
Hikers program gives the teacher more liability coverage, and also
protects hike leaders who assist, but are not a part of the
faculty.
2. Inter-school activities: The High
School Hikers program offers at least four activities each year in
which all member schools can participate: Fall Hikers
Workshop in September, Halloween Camp in October, Ecology Camp during
the President's Day weekend in February, and an end of year
banquet/picnic. In the past, neighbor island schools only
participated in the Ecology Camp due to the cost of inter-island
travel, but future possibilities for lower cost inter-island travel
exists, such as the proposed Super-Ferry.
Individual schools also organize neighbor island trips
and invite other schools to participate. This makes neighbor
island trips more feasible, because it has become difficult
to get enough students together in one school to go on a neighbor
island trip, due to travel costs. In 2005, we organized a six
day trip to Moloka`i and in 2006, we organized another trip to Kaua`i.
3. Years of experience with the Sierra Club.
The High School Hikers Program has been a part of Sierra Club
since 1971.
If you can get a teacher to be the advisor, contact me
and I can get you started with the paperwork. There is a lot
of that.
We have former High School Hikers and hike leaders on the neighbor
islands who can provide you with information and assistance. I can
provide you with contact information if you wish.
Good luck in getting a program started. Hope
to see you soon in the High School Hiker program.
Aloha,
Fred E. Nakaguma
Membership Chair
High School Hikers