A High School Rafting Weekend Inspires a Future Career Outside

Former Mt. Ararat Outdoor Club member Bethany Pratt (‘21) is working towards a fulfilling career outdoors with a focus on Adventure Education.

Teens to Trails alumni Bethany Pratt is a 2021 graduate of Mt Ararat High School in Topsham. Like many of her peers, Bethany experienced two years of Covid social distancing measures, a necessity that unfortunately led to feelings of loneliness and isolation for many teenagers during the epidemic. 

Pre-Covid, Bethany loved camping with her Outdoor Club, and meeting students from all over Maine who attended Teens to Trails’ programs. Specifically, the playful, relaxed atmosphere at Adventure Bound, a camping and rafting weekend in The Forks, gave Bethany opportunities for meeting people and trying new outdoor activities including Ultimate Frisbee, challenging ropes courses, canoeing, paddle boarding and campfire cooking. Bethany was also impressed by the confident raft guides who joyfully led 100+ students down the rapids of the Kennebec Gorge. This experience planted the seed to pursue an education and career in outdoor leadership. She also made a pact to continue going to Adventure Bound throughout her high school career.

Unfortunately Covid interfered with her hopes to attend Adventure Bound during her Junior year, and in an effort to keep students healthy, her high school continued to restrict group travel in 2021, but Bethany was still determined to make the trip happen. She convinced her father to bring her rafting while also keeping social distancing measures in mind. To complete her goal of four years of participating in Adventure Bound, she returned in 2023 as a Teens to Trails volunteer, where she helped other students experience a full weekend of outdoor activities. 

Post graduation, Bethany landed a job at the L.L.Bean Outdoor Discovery School and is working toward becoming a Registered Maine Sea Kayak Guide. She is enrolled at Plymouth State University as an Adventure Education major with plans to take next semester off. She will help run competitive events at Sunday River in Bethel this season, and save funds to complete her college education. Bethany hopes for a Senior internship as a canoe guide in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota. 

Bethany has proven that the experiences from her high school Outdoor Club can be life-changing, and there are many fun careers for outdoor enthusiasts! We can’t wait to see where her inspiring adventures take her next.