Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center Inc
Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center's (TIOBEC) primary purpose is to provide adventurous and challenging experiential learning programs that inspire character development, compassion, community service, environmental responsibility, and academic achievement. Our organization principally serves early adolescents from all economic and social communities of greater metropolitan Boston, and the institutions and adults who support them.
Our programs for BPS students have been developed to help close the opportunity and achievement gaps faced by Boston’s middle school students. In the 1970s, students from wealthier families tested two grade levels above their lower income peers; prior to the pandemic that gap had grown to four grade levels. Recent studies and articles have concluded that the achievement gap between children from poorer and richer families is bound to rise as a result of the pandemic.
TIOBEC’s Connections program serves Boston Public Middle Schools students.
Hello! My name is J’Saun. I’m a graduate of Thompson Island Outward Bound’s middle school Connections and high school Green Ambassadors programs. I’m in college now, and the Island is a big part of how I got here.
When I boarded the boat to Thompson Island, I was a lanky thirteen-year-old kid, but I felt and acted older. I was raised in a part of Boston where it was best to be in your house before the streetlights came on. I had to be guarded, because that’s how you survived.
I stepped on the Island a tough guy who wasn’t sure who I was or who I wanted to be. I knew there was more in me, I just didn’t know how to make things happen. Outward Bound helped me do this.
I may have been tough, but I was terrified of heights. There was no way I was climbing the sixty-two foot Alpine Tower. After I had said many, many times that I couldn’t do it, my instructor, Jon, looked at me and said, “The only reason you can’t is because you’re telling yourself you can’t. Ignore the voice in your head and show yourself you can.”
Next thing you know, I was strapping on my harness and tying into that rope, positive I’d scream like a baby the minute my feet left the ground. But as I took that first step, Jon’s words repeated in my head, and I was too focused to scream. One foot after the other, I made it to the top. That day—facing that challenge and overcoming my fears—was a turning point for me.
The Island was also a turning point in my academics. I was a C student. I wanted to do well, but I didn’t think I could. I didn’t have a lot of energy for school because I was busy trying to survive, but on the Island, I felt safe.
The stresses of my neighborhood and the bullies disappeared. The Island gave me space to be me: a kid who was fun and curious, and most of all, smart. And just like with climbing, I realized the only thing holding me back was myself.
I graduated with a 3.5 GPA, and I was accepted to all nine colleges I applied to. I decided to attend Boston College to study environmental science.
Today, I believe the possibilities for my future are limitless. I believe in myself so strongly because for five dedicated years, Thompson Island Outward Bound believed in me. By supporting the Island, you are helping young people like me reach new heights, not just physically, but emotionally and academically. And when that happens, I guarantee you, it’s just the beginning.
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