Coronavirus Update
Dear HIOBS Community:
It’s time to get out on course again! Summer wilderness expeditionary courses are fully enrolled, with students eagerly anticipating the wonders and challenges of a HIOBS program in Maine. Our instructional teams and support staff are training and gearing up for the year ahead – preparing for the arrival of our first students and a summer of Outward Bound challenge and adventure.
As we all know too well, it’s been a really tough year due to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic in all facets of our life. Many of us have experienced significant added stressors in our school and work lives, changes in our family and community relationships, financial hardships, and so much more. Thankfully, the national health and safety trends are looking so much better in the US due to Covid-19 vaccine rollout and the hard work and discipline that has been put in over the past 16 months across our country. Metaphorically speaking, the storm clouds are breaking and the sun is starting to come out again.
HIOBS continues to follow the scientific guidance and emerging best practices when it comes to managing the potential of Covid-19 transmission on our courses. Our protocols around pre-course and on-course COVID testing, masking, and increased hygiene practices, and regarding the impact of vaccinations have evolved along with the most recent federal and state CDC guidance. Please see our Program Protocols page for the most recent updates to the COVID mitigation strategies we are employing before and during our courses.
I want to be clear on one point. Testing, masking, and social distancing have been proven to work as mitigation strategies in containing the spread of Covid-19. Getting vaccinated, on the other hand, is the solution to ending the pandemic and getting back to life (and Outward Bound) as we know it.
We highly recommend that all HIOBS students arrive for their course fully vaccinated in order to take total advantage of all that an Outward Bound course has to offer. While we are not yet requiring a Covid-19 vaccination in order to participate in one of our courses, that is a waypoint on our horizon that we are navigating to.
Our programs embrace a concept called “shared jeopardy” – that we are all in it together, during both good and challenging times - and that if we look out for each other we can achieve amazing and seemingly impossible things. We welcome you to join us in demonstrating this principle in all that we do.
Be safe and take care of those around you,
Eric
Eric Denny
President and Executive Director
May 19, 2021
THERE IS MORE IN US THAN WE KNOW. IF WE CAN BE MADE TO SEE IT, PERHAPS FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES WE WILL BE UNWILLING TO SETTLE FOR LESS.
MORE INFORMATION
For reliable information on the COVID-19 outbreak, please refer to the resources below:
- US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- World Health Organization (WHO)
- John Hopkins COVID-19 hotspot map
If you have questions about specific international locations, please also see:
For information on our cancellation policies, please click here.
Members of the Press, please see the latest press release here.
Our mission and programs are needed now more than ever. Help us weather this storm and emerge stronger and more prepared to serve!
Every donation of every size makes an impact.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE
Sign Up for Updates
Stay informed on upcoming courses, Hurricane Island Outward Bound School news and special offers. Please fill out the form below to begin receiving our email newsletter.
