The People Behind the Adventures Series: Leslie Trundy
Behind every thriving Outdoor Club is a teacher who shows up - not because it's required, but because they believe in what happens when students get outside together. As Teens to Trails celebrates 20 years of connecting Maine youth with the outdoors, we're taking time this year to honor the advisors at the heart of that work. Every other month, we'll introduce you to one of them.
This blog is part of our year-long series honoring the advisors behind Maine's Outdoor Clubs.
Leslie Trundy is a School Counselor and Outing Club Advisor at Morse High School in Bath, Maine. She first fell in love with the outdoors as a child on the sandy beaches, ski hills, and woods of Northern Michigan, and that connection has shaped everything she does for students ever since.
For Leslie, getting kids outside doesn't stop at the Outing Club. After attending the 2024 Teens to Trails Fall Outdoor Leadership Conference (OLC), she left inspired to reach students who might never walk into a club meeting on their own. Her idea: offer students assigned detention the option to take a hike instead. The program drew resounding interest and coverage from the likes of the Washington Post, NPR, and more. The results speak for themselves: many who started on a detention hike have gone on to become active members of the Outing Club.
What's your favorite piece of outdoor gear, and why? A wool beanie, an easy and effective way to control temperature and provide comfort.
What's your favorite outdoor space in Maine? The Bigelow Range.
What's one small moment with your outdoor club that's stayed with you? The quiet at a hard-earned vista speaks volumes. For me, it is in those moments that I think of what Dr. Dugald Arbuckle wrote about spending time in the outdoors with his family: "they now have the mountain in their blood and it will stay with them."
How has your club evolved since you first started working with Teens to Trails? That first year after receiving the WAVES grant in 2021, club accomplishments included attending the leadership conference with a few students and simply thinking about when to meet next. Since then, Teens to Trails has been a huge support, providing resources, inspiration, and opportunities to help youth get outside and grow our club along the way. Today, 96 students receive our weekly updates. We have active student leadership and planned overnight trips most months, plus weekly day outings.
What does being outside offer students that the classroom often can't? The opportunity to connect with others and with themselves through the shared experience, wonder, challenge, and beauty of nature.
In what ways has being part of the Teens to Trails community changed what's possible for your club? The grants, trip lotteries, and resources like Maine GearShare have enabled our club to do things we would not have known about or had the resources to do on our own. The 2024 leadership conference inspired me to launch detention hikes at our school, something that brought in new club membership and earned national recognition for the program.
What do you hope students carry with them long after they've been involved with their outdoor club? The peace and restoration that time outdoors offers. A desire to connect with others, be adventurous, and care for the environment. And the ability to do with less, to take care of themselves and each other out there.
Stay tuned -- every other month this year, we'll be introducing you to another advisor who is helping shape what's possible for Outdoor Clubs across Maine.