Athletics

VVS Outdoors

VVS Outdoors is Verde Valley School’s comprehensive outdoor adventure education program.  It is designed to encourage Verde Valley School students to challenge their personal limitations, and to engage themselves with the spectacular natural environment of the Southwest.  VVS Outdoors consists of three main programs.  Adventure Orientation, the first program, takes place the week before the start of the school year.  It is a multi-day outdoor adventure trip designed to orient students to each other, to the school, and to the VVS Outdoors program. The second program is the VVX program, which consists of outdoor adventure weekend trips during the school year.  VVS Outdoors staff usually offer at least one VVX opportunity each weekend, and students who show high participation in VVX trips will win the VVX Award at the year’s end.  The third main VVS Outdoors program is our after school Xtreme Sports program.  Students may participate in rock climbing, mountain biking, or whitewater kayaking activities on a daily, after school basis.  These three programs provide ample opportunity for VVS students to get involved with the outdoors, and constitute the foundation of VVS Outdoors. 

VVS Outdoors seeks to enrich the VVS community in other ways beyond the Adventure Orientation, VVX, and Xtreme Sports programs.  Every Spring, VVS Outdoors coordinates with several outdoor adventure trips that are part of the two-week Field Trips program.  The Grand Canyon backpacking, Joshua Tree rock climbing, and San Juan River rafting and kayaking trips are some examples of VVS Outdoors Field Trips.  New for the 2006-2007 school year is VVS Outdoors Night – special presentations with a different outdoor adventure theme each month.  VVS Outdoors is cooperating with the VVS Community Service program to engage students in environmental service projects, such as trail restoration work in our National Forests.  We also work closely with the outdoor adventure community to form agreements, partnerships, and sponsorships with companies like WRSI Whitewater Helmets, Black Bean Burrito Co., Babbitt’s Backcountry Outfitters and Absolute Bikes.