Traditional detention sends students to a room to sit quietly and think about the naughty thing they did. A Bath high school is trying a different approach, one that gets students out of classroom isolation and into nature.

Morse High School is giving its students the option to forgo the classroom confinement and take a supervised hike instead.

The hikes range between 2 and 4 miles, depending on the detention group size, walking about halfway down the nearby Whiskeag Trail. The hikes began in October 2024, giving students an opportunity to serve their consequences for unruly behavior in a more beneficial setting, both mentally and spiritually, according to Morse High School Counselor Leslie Trundy.

Last year, Trundy led students on 19 hikes in every season, supplying ponchos in rainy weather and extra hats and gloves borrowed from the school’s Outing Club during the colder months.

“Sometimes it is hard for kids to be in school and in the confined space of it,” Trundy said. “By taking a detention hike, it gives them a different setting to have some reflection and build a connection with a trusted adult.”

High schoolers appreciate the option of coming on the two-hour detention hike instead of serving one or more hours of regular detention. Other high school kids can come along on the detention hike even if they don’t have detention and just want to enjoy the outdoors, Trundy said.

Morse High School junior Nevaeh Clarke and senior Zeke Partridge chose a detention hike when offered on Oct. 16. Both preferred to spend their detention in nature instead of a room.

“I personally just like the parts where there’s a long stretch because you can run along and then run back to the group,” Partridge said. “The freedom of being able to run a good distance and then loop back is really fun.”

Being out in nature gives Partridge a break from online gaming and brings him back to reality. Trundy takes students halfway down the Whiskeag Trail’s winding path, getting glimpses of wildlife along the way.

The detention hikers trek through the graveyard at Oak Grove Cemetery and past a little bridge, looping onto the hiking trail.

Partridge spoke with one of his brother’s friends, who he didn’t like before the hike. He discovered the friend had matured since they last met three years ago, and he liked them more now.

The idea for the detention hikes originated from Trundy’s participation in the Teens to Trails Outdoor Leadership conference for Outing Club advisors in September 2024. One speaker who worked at the Hyde School gave a presentation on the benefits of spending two hours outdoors.

“I just got really thinking about two hours and opportunities to bring it back to Morse,” Trundy said.

Trundy made some connections with students she did not know before, and it has led to a doubling in members for the school’s Outing Club.

“The big thing is, especially since we are high schoolers, being treated as [if] you’re not a little kid anymore,” Partridge said.