“I grew up going camping, hunting, skiing, and fishing,” Parker Junior Anna Amacher said of her interest in the High Mountain Institute program. “My dad is very much into it, we are a very outdoorsy family”

This spring, junior Anna Amacher will be spending her second semester at High Mountain Institute (HMI). This is in the heart of the Colorado Rockies. Amacher will be partaking in the semester program at High Mountain Institute. She and 47 other classmates will be taking high school level classes and going on excursions such as camping trips, skiing trips, and other science-based trips. The excursions have a heavy emphasis on the natural sciences. The program starts January 23 and ends May 26.

At High Mountain Institute, Amacher will be spending a portion of her day taking classes, and the rest of the day she will be spending a lot of time in the outdoors. She will be running, camping, hiking, and learning more about the outdoors, all things she is excited about. “

This semester, she will get some transferable school credits, like US History, but she has to take physics next year because she will be taking natural science.

Senior Olivia Garg attended High Mountain Institute last year. Recently, she gave an MX about it.

“You wake up, work out or make breakfast,” Olivia Garg said as a description of her day, “You eat breakfast after the workout, and then comes chore time! You get assigned a chore and do it for 25 minutes every day. You then start class. Classes are an hour and a half long, so you get a lot done. You have two classes in the morning, or one class and cooking lunch. We eat lunch altogether and then you have three more classes and maybe cooking dinner. Class ends at 5:30, so from 5:30-6:00 is a little downtime. Dinner is at 6, study hall is from 7:15-9:15 and in cabins by 9:45.”

On their website, HMI describes some of its students as, “active outdoors-people,” it states that “others have never camped, hiked, or skied before. We teach our students everything they need to know to fully participate in our outdoor activities.”

“I love the city,” Amacher said. “I value the city, but I prefer to be outdoors, especially during a really stressful time I would rather be in my happy place.” Amacher said this was her main reason for choosing this program.“I’m excited to have a time to reflect,” Amacher said.

There are many options for semester-long schools. “I actually was going to go to the Alzar school,” Amacher said, “But I ended up not loving it as much as I love HMI because HMI has a lot of things like skiing, which I’ve done since I was two years old.”

Highlights in the High Mountain Institute program include running a marathon, and three excursions with a curriculum based on science.

“I will be somewhat off the grid, but I don’t see that as a big issue as I spend my summers in the boundary waters by Canada and Minnesota,” Amacher said.

Anna Amacher is not the only Parker student who is participating in a semester/year long program. Olivia Garg, a current senior did High Mountain Institute last year, Rosey Limmer, a current sophomore is going to Israel for the semester, and Abri Berg is in Spain where she is doing her junior year abroad.

Many Parker students are also interested in HMI and programs similar in design, too.

“It seems really unique and it prioritizes the importance of learning by doing and conceptualizing,” freshman Star Rothkopf said.

There are some negative aspects of doing a semester abroad program, some of your classes and the credits can be messed up. Amacher experienced this.“I have to switch some of my classes around because I am attending High Mountain Institute,” Amacher said. “I am in Latin three right now, but they don’t offer it at High Mountain Institute, so I am doing an independent study while I am there. That means I don’t get credit for it, and I have to take another year of language because my one semester of Latin three for the first semester doesn’t count as a year of language.”

“I’m taking three science courses right now, but I have to take physics next year because it is a year-long course,” Amacher said.

Garg’s classes this year were also affected by HMI. “HMI has really only affected two classes I am taking this year,” Garg said. “I am finishing up my language requirement with Latin 1. I am also taking American Literature this year. I love being in these classes. They are my two humanities classes and being in Am Lit as a senior gives you a perspective on the class. I don’t see it as a stressed out junior, but as a student who is able to relax and take in what I am learning without really thinking about the grade.”

When asked to give advice to anyone going to HMI. “Take in every moment even if the moment sucks,” Garg said. “Journal in as much detail as you can because you will want these memories forever. Make the hard times the good times. Go at everything with a positive attitude.”

“The last day of application is February 15 for next year,” Garg said. “Apply! HMI is the best thing I have done so far in life, and motivates me to do more  I learned so much about myself, but also about communication and group work. You experience nature and meet amazing people. The only con to HMI is all the running but if you want you can walk so it’s not really a con. The amount of support you get from the community around you is amazing. You can do something ridiculous like eat mustard for a talent show and everyone in the room will yell and applaud you. You can be your authentic self and learn what makes a healthy relationship.”