North Carolina Outward Bound School

North Carolina Outward Bound School's mission is to change lives through challenge and discovery, and we do this through a variety of programs that serve Charlotte and its residents. 

One such program is the Charlotte Unity Project which has operated in partnership with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools for more than 25 years. In the program, fifty students are chosen from eight Unity schools to represent the diversity in their community. They embark on a seven-day backpacking and rock-climbing journey in the mountains of Western North Carolina to develop their courage, compassion, leadership skills, and understanding of others’ perspectives while learning to work as a team toward common goals and engage in meaningful conversations around social issues. This program is completely free to participants and even provides transportation from Charlotte to the North Carolina mountains. 

Another wilderness-based program is our Charlotte Educator's course. This course happens in October every year and is for both traditional and non-traditional educators located in the Charlotte region. This course is also free to participants and allows teachers to learn more about experiential education and how to bring it into the classroom while providing a chance to disconnect from technology and build lasting relationships. During this course, participants will go backpacking and rock climbing, challenging themselves and supporting each other.  

In addition to the Unity Project, North Carolina Outward Bound is passionate about serving our mission in Charlotte through day teambuilding programs with youth, educators, and business professionals. In addition to traditional teambuilding programs, we have partnered with the Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens and the Catawba Riverkeeper to offer hybrid programs that involved teambuilding as well as a navigation challenge or kayaking.