Rain dashes the water as Windham’s REAL school students paddle canoes down the Presumpscot River past trees of fall foliage – orange, red, and evergreen. Zipped up in wetsuits, life preservers and windbreakers to brave the gray day, the students work together, oar strokes synchronized with their canoe partners.

Adventure counselor Rod Nadeau tells the students to be “very quiet” as a blue herring watches them float by from its stoic perch. Nevertheless, the bird takes flight and the students continue downstream toward Dundee Dam.

“Back in the day, the Presumpscot used to be the river of many falls and now it’s the river of many dams,” says student Joe McNerney who paddled with teacher Craig Haims on the river Tuesday between Great Falls Dam and Dundee.

Spread out through three weeks, the students will paddle 25 miles on canoe trips between dams along the river as part of a fund-raiser called Pledge-A-Paddle. Money raised will go to benefit Friends of the Presumpscot River, an environmental advocacy group that works to improve water quality and fish habitat on the river.

So far, the students have raised more than $1,000 in donations from local businesses and private donors who have pledged money either in lump sum or by giving a certain amount per mile.

The paddling excursions are just one of many adventures students partake in as part of the experimental learning at the REAL school, a regional school for students with behavioral and special needs. And Pledge-A-Paddle is more than just a fund-raiser; it is a tool to teach students about the Presumpscot river, says teacher Lisa Bisceglia.

“The students work well with real life projects and (Friends of the Presumpscot) was a real life group centered around what we were studying,” Bisceglia said of the school’s decision to do the Pledge-A-Paddle fund-raiser. “They gave us a lot of material for our curriculum and we came up with the idea that maybe we could do some fund-raising.”

On “dry days” during the three-week Pledge-A-Paddle, students learn about the river through a curriculum that integrates traditional subjects. In science, the students study river ecology and fish that spawn on the river. In math, the students measure the gradation of the river, how fast it flows, and graphing data collected from a field trip testing the water quality with Portland Water District. In social studies, they have learned about the history of the river and Maine’s use of hydroelectric power.

This “thematic learning,” as teacher Bisceglia calls it, is the school’s newest evolution in “hands-on” education. Unlike their traditional school counterparts, REAL school teachers come up with different themes to base their teaching on like “compassion,” a learning unit taught recently where students collected canned goods for the Preble Street Resource Center in Portland.

“The beauty of the school and the challenge is that we have to do something different each year,” Bisceglia said. “But it’s good for (the teachers) because it keeps us thinking.”

The REAL school also uses adventures like Pledge-A-Paddle to boost self-confidence in the students.

Adventure counselor Nadeau is especially proud of McNerney and his paddle partner Lacy Presby for giving the paddle another try just days after their canoe tipped over.

“They were cold, they were rattled, but they got back in the canoe,” Nadeau said.

Resilience, self-reliance and building self-esteem” is what “adventure learning” is all about, Nadeau said. He sees the outdoor challenges as “therapeutic” for the students. As their adventure counselor, Nadeau takes students on many outdoor adventures like whitewater rafting and hiking in the mountains. Back at school, he acts as the school counselor dealing with issues that come up during the day.

“By the time they get here they’ve been beaten up by difficult challenges,” Nadeu said. “So we try to do everything we can to build them up.”

Presby, who joined the school this fall, said she prefers the REAL school experience as opposed to traditional high school. Presby left Windham High School, which “didn’t like her” she said because she had run into trouble previously at Westbrook High School. Now, she said the REAL school has given her a “real chance.”

“I learn a lot of stuff that’s worthwhile to me in the long run and not just for tests.” Lacey said.

As a special needs school, REAL school teachers work with students to help them reach their goals, said teacher Craig Haims. Each student has a personal learning plan, Haims said, that tries to work with the kids on both learning and behavioral issues.

“Because we have such an intimate setting, we get to know the kids very well,” Haims said. “We try to understand who the kids are and give them appropriate challenges.”

And as Nadeau says, “A good challenge is something you can take pride in.”

REAL school students paddle down the river as part of Pledge-A-Paddle, a fund-raiser for Friends of the Presumpscot River.