Dave Eichler knew how steeping young people in outdoors adventures could instill confidence, humility, self reliance and other what he calls "soft skills" no other class at Donegal High School would.

But facing Donegal School Board members around a round table in 1991, he was peppered with questions about dangling kids from cliffs where they could fall and dunking them in frothy whitewater in canoes where they could drown.

It all seemed much too risky.

Eichler, a phys ed teacher, looked squarely at the concerned faces and said this: "I have students that actually have more of a risk playing softball than climbing Chickies Rock."

And that's how the Donegal Experiential Education Program came to be. Twenty-two years later, it's beloved.

It's believed to be the only outdoors-based course in Pennsylvania that's part of a high school's regular curriculum.

Each year, a dozen seniors enroll in Eichler's twice-a-week course. About twice that many apply but 12 was picked as a limit for safety reasons.

Eichler likes to see an equal number of boys and girls, but for some reason no one can quite explain, the class is usually weighted with more girls.

If seniors think they are signing up for a cupcake course, they soon find out otherwise.

The training is based closely on the well-known Outward Bound programs that use outdoor survival skills to instill self reliance, compassion, courage, diversity. leadership, environmental stewardship and service.

This year's eight DEEP girls and four boys climbed and rappelled down Chickies Rock, navigated around Governor Dick Park and Furnace Hills game lands by map and compass, paddled around Speedwell Forge Lake and whitewater canoed through York County's rugged Muddy Creek gorge.

Fresh from getting their high school diplomas, they embarked on a demanding eight-day multi-adventure backpacking trip in Pennsylvania's Endless Mountains.

There, they traversed the Loyalsock State Forest's Angel Falls gorge by rope, dangling 120 above ground, climbed a cliff face near the McIntyre Wild Area in Lycoming County — eight timber rattlesnakes were seen the first time the rocks were scouted — and finished up with a three-day backpacking trip on the Black Forest Trail in Tiadaghton State Forest.

The kids just didn't undertake those outings on a whim. It followed a school year worth of learning knots, how to belay, wilderness first aid, leave-no-trace techniques, paddling strokes and the like.

During the final expedition, using their tread-lightly ethic, they slept under tarps rather than in tents and gathered around a strawberry-scented candle rather than a fire at night.

They came home stinky, drained — and changed.

During the school year, the group also gave back to their community by helping the local Donegal Fish and Conservation Association raise and stock trout, the Pennsylvania Game Commission plant trees and by picking up trash along local roadways.

During the recent final expedition, the gang visited Bob and Dotty Webber, 76 and 88 years old, respectively, who live in a backwoods cabin without electricity or running water. The crew trimmed encroaching vegetation on the Webbers' access lane.

On a recent evening, nine of the DEEP students and some of their parents gathered at a steamy upstairs classroom to review photos and videos of their last trip together and to reflect on what it all means.

They affectionately address the 49-year-old Eichler as "Doc," since he obtained his doctorate degree in education in 2009.

"I know I learned a lot about myself," Emily Neideigh said. "But more importantly, I learned how to be a team player. Before this, I liked to do things myself. This kind of taught me to rely on other people to get things done. Belaying helped me to learn to trust others because they had my life in their hands."

Emily's mom, Melinda Neideigh, said, "I just know in talking to other people and explaining what Emily was doing that week that people with kids — they know their child, they know that never in a million years would they even think about doing something like that. I mean, no shower for a week. No Facebook. They just stand there and say, no, no."

Edda Lopez-Cabrera, whose son, Diego, was in this year's program, admitted, "I was so nervous I couldn't sleep the whole week."

But Jane Farr, mother of participant Will Farr, says she sees a difference in her son and the others. "The confidence that all these kids have now. In any situation, they can handle it. They can survive it. They have all these important survival skills now that they can use all through life."

In a journal each member kept during the expedition, Diego seemed to sum up the pulling together that the 12 reached over time, despite coming from diverse personalities.

"I learned that I should not be afraid to be different, nor should I hide who I am in order to please others. I thank each of my DEEPers for listening to me and my bad stories.

"The connections and bonds I made this week are something that I will take with me throughout my life. We crossed the gorge and conquered the mountain. Nothing is beyond our reach!"

Rebecca Betty's entry said simply, "This has been an awesome week and I think we all learned more in this past week than we did in four years of high school."

One of the amazing things about DEEP is that it operates without financial support from the school district, other than Eichler's salary.

All its canoes, packs, tarps, rain coats, pots and considerable inventory are acquired through hard fundraising by participants or Eichler beating the bushes for grants and hitting up local civic groups.

When kids go on final expeditions — usually to Outward Bound schools in places such as Colorado, North Carolina and Florida's Everglades — they have to pay their way.

Andrew Miller, a former student, and Leah Yingling, a Spanish teacher at Donegal, volunteered their time to assist on this year's trip.

Even so, waning school funding keeps the program under constant evaluation.

One who has vowed to fight for its continuation is principal John Felix. His daughter, Elizabeth, was a DEEPer this year. All three of his other children have been through the experience.

A few weeks ago, when an order of packs arrived at the school after the backpacking trip was already under way, Felix left the office at 4 p.m., drove them to the group in Lycoming County, camped overnight, then drove back to the office the next morning.

"I'm an advocate for this program. I'll fight to the wall," Felix declares.

"What really happens, when these kids come back to the world, they really see things like how insensitive people are to each other.

"What they are pulling out, aside from camping, is those longer-lasting lessons, the things people need to be successful."

Eichler, who gives his time far beyond what is required to keep DEEP afloat, says, "I simply do this because of the change that I see in these students.

"I'm just happy for them."

acrable@lnpnews.com

For a listing of outdoors events throughout Lancaster County this week, go to lancasteronline.com. Click on Sports, then Outdoors.