Wilderness First Aid isn’t the average high school class. Unlike most science classes, the students go outside and do interactive labs to help the students fully grasp what is being taught.

Science teacher Courtney Van der Linden started teaching the class this fall after her unique experiences at other schools. She would take students on backpacking trips and other interesting outdoor activities.

“Wilderness first aid at Monarch is a class that I’ve designed to teach students about first aid techniques you’d use when you’re outside, and how to help patients who are injured or sick,” Van der Linden said.

Usually, this course lasts over a couple of days, but Van der Linden has turned it into a semester-long course. To teach first-aid techniques, the class has to take advantage of the one block day a week.

Elia Shen ‘26 loves the hands-on activities.“We do them on block days and sometimes on Tuesdays,” she said.

Van Der Linden creates many different scenarios for the class to perform. She pulls some ideas from the book she is teaching off of and makes scenarios based on what they are currently learning.

“We create a scenario where, say, someone fell off a bike, and we would have to treat that wound,” Saphiye Celebi ‘26 said.

Students go through the different steps when helping their patients. For this example, one person is the patient, and the others assess what’s wrong and then treat it. They must follow the steps correctly for their specific roles.

After taking this class, students will get college credit through Front Range Community College, or if they signed up for it, they also get three certifications.

“You get a wilderness first aid certification through Desert Mountain Medicine and a wilderness anaphylaxis certification. Then you can also get CPR first aid and AED,” Van der Linden said.