For 100 years the Princeton-Blairstown Center (PBC) has provided adventure-based experiential education programming to at risk urban youth. What began as a summer camp to give inner city boys an opportunity to have a fresh air experience has evolved into a year-round program that addresses the challenges of today’s urban youth: dropping out of school, gang involvement, drugs and crime.
Piloted by our mission - Princeton-Blairstown Center, working in partnership with schools, community organizations and Princeton University, offers young people opportunities to challenge and define themselves, set goals and strive courageously to reach them. We do this by providing active, imaginative and meaningful experiences through our curriculum that engage learners and expand their skills, knowledge and sense of personal achievement – we set goals to guide us in making a positive impact on the lives of at risk young people ages, girls and boys 11 – 17, within the metropolitan New York City region, Essex, Mercer and Camden counties of New Jersey. These goals are to instill in the young people we serve the ability to:
- Realize their ability to achieve;
- Understand their strengths and passions;
- Articulate personal goals that nurture and empower;
- Make a commitment to others and become active members of their communities;
- Establish their resolve to stand strong in the face of personal challenges;
- Instill a self-respect that will inspire them to take good care of their minds and bodies;
- Help them see the larger world as a place of opportunity and growth.
Princeton-Blairstown Center delivers several different types of programming, most of which take place at our 275-acre campus in Blairstown, NJ. Until three years ago, virtually all of PBC’s activities were centered on this site, and its outdoor offerings, including expeditionary trips, high ropes courses, adventure courses, 
swimming, hiking and rappelling were the heart of its program. While the lessons taught were similar in nature to those taught now in the schools, they were reinforced with participation in the above-mentioned outdoor activities.
PBC has always welcomed different types of groups to its Blairstown facility. Historically, we have hosted independent schools, both urban and suburban high schools and middle schools, as well as community organizations. Most often, PBC instructors lead these groups in experiential adventure-based learning initiatives designed to instill a strong sense of self and commitment to teamwork and community in each participant. The range of groups demonstrates a broad diversity, as does the spectrum of the individuals within each group. Some groups are made up of adjudicated young people, some are foster children and others are chosen to come to Blairstown because they are leaders and mentors among their peers.
Despite the success PBC enjoyed in teaching character building/education exercises to student groups, it felt that it should be doing more to address the needs and growing concerns of the urban population of the New York City and Philadelphia regions and the cities of New Jersey. In response to this need, we developed a program that incorporated a newly developed six-year curriculum as its core to be delivered over a multi-year period within the schools themselves to middle and high school students. We strongly believe, and tests have shown, that more time with the students would produce more positive outcomes, and thus the new phase of the Princeton-Blairstown program was put into place. It was always felt that the Blairstown campus program would be vital to the success of the urban program and therefore the new program has clear components of this experience built into it.