No more hikes for students, Arizona school founder says after Lake Mead area rescue
The founder of a school in Arizona said Saturday that she will not plan future hiking trips for students after a rescue mission was conducted Thursday near Lake Mead.
Catherine Normoyle, founder and director of the Marvelous Microschool, a K-12 institution in Kingman, Arizona, called Thursday’s incident near the Arizona-Nevada state line a “miscommunication.” She also said she was impressed by the response by National Park Service and law enforcement and medical officials.
“I appreciate the search and rescue effort and I respect the first responders and everything that they did,” Normoyle said. “I was extremely impressed with the first responders. I think it is important to note that it was a student who actually made the call.”
In a social media post just after 4 p.m. Thursday, the National Park Service said rangers were “actively responding to a large-scale rescue” centered on 28 hikers, including 25 “children with special needs.”
Normoyle took issue with the park service’s post saying that the students had “special needs.”
“None of the kids are special needs, other than their educational adaptation,” she said. “That means they are maybe diagnosed with (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) or something to that extent. There were no physical disabilities or high-level special needs kids.”
She also said that 18 students, all in high school, took part in the hike and that 10 adults, including herself, accompanied them.
A message to the National Park Service from the Review-Journal requesting clarification was not immediately returned Saturday afternoon.
‘We were prepared’
The National Park Service said the hikers, later identified as the Marvelous Microschool group, had tried to reach Arizona Hot Springs “without adequate preparation,” although Normoyle disputed that account. The Arizona Hot Springs Trail is located about 40 miles southeast of Las Vegas.
“We were prepared,” Normoyle said. “Each student was asked to bring one gallon of water with them, and we brought over 200 bottles of water. We were broken up into groups, and the ratio was about about one adult for every three kids. Every adult had a walkie-talkie, and there was never a time when we didn’t know where every student was.”
One student was taken to nearby Boulder City Hospital, Normoyle said. The boy, who had complained of dizziness, was released the same day, she said.
On Thursday, a park service spokesperson told the Review-Journal the social media post also acted as the agency’s official statement on the matter.
In that Thursday social media post, the park service noted temperatures that day reached close to 100 degrees in certain areas along and near the trail.
“This incident underscores the severity of the current conditions and the significant strain these emergencies place on park resources,” the post said.
‘A lesson learned’
Normoyle confirmed that the school was given two “citations” following the multi-agency rescue mission, which included a helicopter response. One was for not having a permit for hiking as part of a group of 20 or more people, she said.
“I was unaware of that rule,” Normoyle said. “As far as the permit, it’s a lesson learned. For the foreseeable future, we will not be doing any more hikes. We had done this hike for the past five years.”
In a letter sent to parents on Friday, Normoyle said that news of the rescue “may come as quite a shock…” and added that the student who called authorities “did what he thought was right.”
Normoyle said she wished she had been consulted before the distress call was made.
“At our school, we empower our kids to make a decision and follow through,” she said.”In no way, shape or form am I upset or mad at him for making that call. I’m not ever going to stop a student from doing something he or she thinks is right. Never.”
The Marvelous Microschool has about 180 enrolled students, Normoyle said.
Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.