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Expedition Week Offers New Experiences
In what has become one of the most anticipated weeks of the year, students packed their bags, boarded vans and buses, and headed off for adventure and new experiences during Expedition Week.
This was the fourth year the senior class has traveled to Appalachia, where they helped out with critical home repair. Coming on the heels of the damage wrought by Hurricane Helene, the school’s partnership with the Appalachia Service Project was particularly poignant. Although Jonesville, Virginia, wasn’t impacted as severely as many of the North Carolina towns, there were still areas without power and rivers that had yet to recede.
Working alongside homeowners, the boys were exposed to the lived reality of one of the poorest areas of the country, providing them with an opportunity to both learn and serve.
“After working on a house for three days, I could tell we were making actual tangible improvements to the family’s life,” said Ridge Hogue ’25. “The trip definitely changed my perspective and made me grateful for what I have.”
“The work was hard, but it was also rewarding,” said Hanes Malin ’25. “By the time we finished the floors and the roof, we could really see the difference we made.”
The fifth form had an entirely different experience. Each boy in the class had the opportunity to choose from a list of four-day academic courses designed by Woodberry faculty. These courses—grounded in experiential learning—challenge boys in ways that are not possible during the term, stimulating and satiating their curiosity and advancing the school’s mission to develop intellectual thoroughness. Students explore conventional academic topics from unconventional points of view, utilizing Woodberry’s 1,200-acre campus or traveling, for example, to Washington, Richmond, Charlottesville, or Shenandoah National Park.
One group of 16 students traveled to various locations to study the impact of the Civil War in Virginia.
“Chatham Manor in Fredericksburg was really cool to see,” said Ford Waldrop ’26. “Seeing how the soldiers had to build a bridge while being shot at to cross the river really showed how hard the war must have been. Visiting the (Fredericksburg) graveyard also put into perspective how large the death toll really was.”
The third form departed for Camp Horizons in Harrisonburg, Virginia, where they stayed in an outdoor facility that includes cabins, a small lake for fishing and swimming, several playing fields, and high ropes courses. Meanwhile, the fourth form once again headed to Wilderness Adventure at Eagle’s Landing near Roanoke, Virginia. The boys spent their days hiking, caving, climbing, and canoeing with professional outdoor guides. They prepared all of their meals and camped outside each night, challenging the boys to work together as a team.
Woodberry Forest School is an exceptional private school community for high school boys in grades nine through twelve. It is one of the top boarding schools in the United States and one of the only all-boys, all-boarding schools in the country.
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Woodberry Forest admits students of any race, color, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, and national or ethnic origin to all of the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, or national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic or other school-administered programs. The school is authorized under federal law to enroll nonimmigrant students.