UrbanPromise promotes critical thinking, creativity, and experiential learning; taking students beyond the classroom to engage with 
the community and discover new perspectives.
Key Elements of Experiential Learning

Promote Exploration

Project-based learning and new experiences promote critical thinking and excites learners. Through this, they see classroom concepts applied to the real word.

Support Self Discovery

New experiences support healthy development (emotionally, socially, academically). Participants discover what it means to cooperate and take on leadership roles.

Embrace Mistakes

Mistakes are part of the learning process. Through experiential education, students can recover, reconsider, and try again.

Inspire Creativity

Experiential education encourages creativity and invites students to explore new ideas and perspectives. Participants often discover new interests or develop increased interest in trying new things.

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Expeditionary Learning

UrbanTrekkers

UrbanTrekkers’ is an outdoor, hands-on, up-close learning and mentoring program at the UrbanPromise Academy, where the world is our classroom. We explore environmental gems within Camden and travel to places beyond students’ everyday lives, so that learning comes alive and students have room to grow.

Raising Monarch Butterflies

2,500 Mile Migration

Eggs are collected our Butterfly Garden, then students nurture them through the caterpillar and chrysalis stages and release them so they can join the 2,500 mile migration to Mexico.

Protecting our Waterways

Stream Stewards

Students engage in watershed activities including regularly testing the water in the Cooper River for dissolved oxygen, nitrates, and temperature to monitor long-term trends and assess river health.

Bringing Learning to Life

Hands-on STEM

Whether it’s building their first robot, or engaging with the chemical properties of conductivity to engineer a sports drink, our students apply STEM lessons through hands-on projects.

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The Outdoor Classroom

Environmental Education

Whether planning and building a rain garden on our campus, exploring the shores of the local waterways, or offering student-led community paddles on the Cooper River, the city offers a variety of opportunities for enriching environmental experiences for students and the broader community.

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At the Shop

UrbanBoatworks

Youth build handcrafted wooden water vessels and launch them on local waterways. As they work in the boat shop, students develop confidence, and learn valuable lessons that transfer to other realms of their academic, family, and social lives.