High Mountain Institute
Encyclopedia
The High Mountain Institute (HMI) is a non-profit educational organization located in Leadville, Colorado
. Founded in 1995 by Molly and Christopher Barnes, HMI focuses on educating teenagers through interaction with the natural world. The school offers semester
and summer programs for high-school students and programs for middle-schoolers and adults.
of high school outside their comfort zone
. Classes are taken at an honors level, with class sizes ranging from 42 to 4. Students live with about nine other students in cabins heated with wood-burning stoves. Physical training consists of a fitness regimen of early-morning runs and skiing culminating in a "Fun Run" (a 10-mile run at 10,000 feet). The key element of the HMI Semester is the wilderness program. Students take three trips into the back country (which varies from the canyons of southeast Utah
to the slopes of Mount Elbert
). Since these trips last from 10 to 14 days each, a substantial part of the semester is spent in the wilderness. During the expeditions students do homework, learn back-country cooking and survival tips and learn about leadership and natural ethics.
which mirrors the HMI Semester, and is open to students who have completed 10th
or 11th grade. The program combines academics, community and back-country experience for a condensed version of the semester program.
Leadville, Colorado
Leadville is a Statutory City that is the county seat of, and the only municipality in, Lake County, Colorado, United States. Situated at an elevation of , Leadville is the highest incorporated city and the second highest incorporated municipality in the United States...
. Founded in 1995 by Molly and Christopher Barnes, HMI focuses on educating teenagers through interaction with the natural world. The school offers semester
Semester school
Semester school is a term used to describe a school that complements a student’s secondary education by providing them with the opportunity to step out of their regular school for half an academic year and step into a uniquely different educational setting while continuing their required academic...
and summer programs for high-school students and programs for middle-schoolers and adults.
Semester program
The HMI Semester is the cornerstone program at the institute. In the HMI Semester, 42 students from all over the country come together to spend either the fall or spring semester of their junior yearEleventh grade
Eleventh Grade is the eleventh, and for some countries final, grade of secondary schools. Students are typically 16 or 17 years of age, depending on the country and the students' birthdays.-Brazil:...
of high school outside their comfort zone
Comfort zone
The comfort zone is a behavioural state within which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral condition, using a limited set of behaviours to deliver a steady level of performance, usually without a sense of risk . A person's personality can be described by his or her comfort zones...
. Classes are taken at an honors level, with class sizes ranging from 42 to 4. Students live with about nine other students in cabins heated with wood-burning stoves. Physical training consists of a fitness regimen of early-morning runs and skiing culminating in a "Fun Run" (a 10-mile run at 10,000 feet). The key element of the HMI Semester is the wilderness program. Students take three trips into the back country (which varies from the canyons of southeast Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
to the slopes of Mount Elbert
Mount Elbert
Mount Elbert is the highest peak in the Rocky Mountains of North America, at , the highest of the fourteeners in Colorado, and the high point of the Sawatch Range. It is located in Lake County, approximately southwest of Leadville...
). Since these trips last from 10 to 14 days each, a substantial part of the semester is spent in the wilderness. During the expeditions students do homework, learn back-country cooking and survival tips and learn about leadership and natural ethics.
Summer term
The HMI Summer Term is a six-week summer programSummer school
Summer school is a school, or a program generally sponsored by a school or a school district, that teaches students during the summer vacation....
which mirrors the HMI Semester, and is open to students who have completed 10th
Tenth grade
In majority of the world,Tenth grade is the tenth year of school post-kindergarten. The variants of "10th grade" in various nations is described below.-Australia:...
or 11th grade. The program combines academics, community and back-country experience for a condensed version of the semester program.