The People Behind the Adventures Series: Miles Bisher
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.
Miles Bisher has been working with teenagers in various capacities for fifteen years. He has worked at Deering High School, Windham High School, and Edward Little High School, where he was also the outdoor club advisor. He now teaches 8th grade social studies at Bucksport Middle School, where he also advises the outdoor club.
When he's not outside with his students, he's probably running, hiking, or backpacking. He and his wife thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2013, section-hiked the Long Trail in Vermont, hiked the New Hampshire 48 4,000-footers and the 67 highest peaks in New England, and are currently working to complete the final 857 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail.
What’s your favorite piece of outdoor gear, and why?
I have two favorite outdoor gear items:
Leki trekking poles. I never used poles until I thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail, but now I won’t hike without them. They’re life savers for my knees on downhills!
Montbell Tachyon anorak windbreaker. It weighs about an ounce and holds body heat remarkably well. Great for windy summits, and an extra layer at night.
What’s your favorite outdoor space in Maine?
This is an impossible question to answer. A few that hold a special place in my heart: The Appalachian Trail, Katahdin, Bigelow Mountain Range, Saddleback, Sugarloaf, Great Pond Mountain, Acadia, the Bagaduce River, and Penobscot Bay.
What’s one small moment with your outdoor club that’s stayed with you over the years?
Since I’ve been an advisor at two schools with Teens to Trails, I’m going to give two answers.
Bucksport Middle School - This actually isn’t a small moment at all, and it’s one of the top five outdoor experiences I’ve had in my whole life. It was our club’s first overnight camping trip with Teens to Trails in the spring of 2024, and we had the entire beach to ourselves at Birch Point State Park in Owls Head. As we enjoyed the campfire we looked above us and noticed a strange milky quality to the night sky, with some unique coloring, and suddenly we realized that we were looking at the aurora borealis. Our phone cameras recorded the intense coloring more vividly than our eyes, and we were able to capture some incredible photos of the experience with our students. We spent hours laying on the rocks looking up at the sky, taking in the awesome power and beauty of the Universe, sharing stories, asking questions, and connecting with each other and with nature. It was one of the most memorable, magical, and beautiful nights of my life.
Edward Little High School - Our final sunset hike at Streaked Mountain was the perfect way to say goodbye to so many incredible students who were the heart and soul of our outdoor club. Due to forest fire smoke blowing in from the west, it was one of the most stunning and beautiful sunsets I’ve witnessed. But that’s not why it was so special. It was the people I shared the sunset with that made it a life affirming and soul enriching experience. In that moment I felt nothing but love and gratitude. It was one of those moments where everything in life makes sense and you realize why you’re here and what it means to be alive.
How has your club evolved since you first started working with Teens to Trails?
Having worked with Teens to Trails closely at my previous school, I already knew the immense benefits that came with the partnership, so I registered our club before we even had club members. Our first year as a club we had just over forty students who participated in at least one of seven after school or weekend events that we offered. In our second year, we improved our programming, and offered students the opportunity to participate in sixteen after school or weekend events. We also saw a significant increase in the number of students participating in our club, with sixty-five students getting involved. We’ve also managed to do something new each year, which has helped keep things fresh and exciting for the kids.
What does being outside offer students that the classroom often can’t?
I’ve found that being outside makes students into better people. They are more open and perceptive to their surroundings, more connected to their peers and the natural world, more responsible and empathetic, and more authentic and comfortable being themselves.
Being outside also often pushes students out of their comfort zone, where they have to be responsible for themselves in ways they aren’t necessarily used to. It’s a great way to improve executive functioning skills, like making a packing list, planning ahead, and making contingency plans. They will also face different challenges which are absent in a traditional school setting. The adversity that comes with doing something really hard for the first time, like climbing a steep mountain, or learning how to ski and falling down repeatedly, or paddling in open water with a strong wind, those experiences build character and perseverance in ways that a multiple choice test cannot.
In what ways has being part of the Teens to Trails community changed what’s possible for your club?
The impact of Teens to Trails has been immeasurable for our students. In our first year as a club, we participated in the Life Happens Outside Challenge, and we won $1,000 for our club, which was a serious game changer for our students. We’ve participated in the LHOC every year I’ve been the advisor, and our students have spent a total of over 630,000 minutes outside during the challenge across two years, and we’re excited for the next challenge! That’s a lot of time spent outside, which students might not have had were it not for Teens to Trails sponsoring the LHOC. Additionally, our club has participated in two (soon to be three) Teens to Trails overnight camping trips with other middle school clubs. These experiences have been life changing for our students! Teens to Trails grants have also made it possible for our students to experience sea kayaking for the first time in their lives, and dozens of students have learned how to ski and snowboard for free, thanks to the Teens to Trails ski day at Black Mountain. I’ve also made so many valuable connections through the organization, which has opened the door to new opportunities through the Appalachian Mountain Club and First Push Syndicate.
What do you hope students carry with them long after they’ve been involved with their outdoor club?
I truly believe being an outdoor club advisor is the most important thing I can do in life, and I think it’s the single most effective way to develop good, confident, caring, conscientious human beings. It is so much more than giving kids something fun to do outside of school. It’s about showing kids a way to live their lives with purpose, meaning, fulfillment, and a deep connection to everything around them. Ultimately, I want my students to get to a point in their lives where doing things outside becomes an integral part of who they are, what they do, and what they stand for. I want them to go outside, to amble along the trails, to breathe in the fresh air, sit silently among the trees and mountains, to wonder at the night sky, to notice the plants, insects, and animals, to feel the earth and connect with something so much bigger than themselves. The outside is inside us. Nature is not something we visit or experience, it is deeply rooted within us. Earth is home, it’s here, it’s us. This planet is beautiful, and I’m grateful to live here and share it with my students. I hope they grow to love it as much as I do, and that they’ll learn to care for it and protect it for their children and generations to come.
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.