Dear HIOBS Community:
The HIOBS Board recently met to consider and discuss the resumption of programming in Florida for the upcoming winter season. COVID-19 transmission rates in this country are at or near record highs compared to any point during this pandemic, and the projections for the coming months speak of the “dark days ahead”. Steeled by the reality of this outlook, we acknowledge that our absolute top priority as a school is to ensure the highest degree of safety to our staff and students. With this in mind, both the Safety Committee and the Board unanimously concluded to forgo our FL Sea season and continue the suspension of wilderness, open enrollment programming until the spring.
This is the third time since the start of the pandemic that we have had to make such an emotionally and intellectually tough decision. We know this negatively affects all the students who will miss out (temporarily) on a life changing HIOBS course, as well all of our staff—admin and field staff alike. While the upcoming months of winter look extremely challenging for this country as we continue to struggle to deal with the realities of managing the spread of Covid-19, we are more than hopeful that with a successful rollout of vaccines and a return to warmer weather that we will be getting students and staff back out in the field this spring and summer.
In the meantime, all of us in this community need to stay smart, healthy and know that the “sensible self-denial” which we are currently needing to demonstrate will allow us to come back as strong and as quickly as ever.
Although the wilderness expedition ethos runs deep in our HIOBS DNA, our core mission is committed to more than simply adventuring in pulling boats, sea kayaks, backpacks and canoes. Educational partners and corporate clients are actively seeking HIOBS out to help their leadership teams and students to hone leadership skills and character development in innovative ways. For example - we will be working with professional educators through our Thriving Classroom series focused on managing better social and emotional outcomes with students. We are planning to serve intact teams of students at the secondary and post-secondary level on a series of online programs, and our Outward Bound Professional programs are still happening in various forms, both in Maine and beyond.
HIOBS is bright. We will endure.
This is what we do — stick together through the hard times and keep moving forward. Roll on, Springtime!
Be safe - and take care of those around you,
Eric
Eric Denny
President and Executive Director
January 7 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:
To read more about what we're doing now - including when we will resume programming, please click here.
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!
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