Community Supported Projects
at Wilderness Awareness School

Funded by the community of Wilderness Awareness School, lead supporters, and our business and organizational partners, unique opportunities come to life. Join us as we cultivate nature connection, personal transformation and regenerative communities with these special projects...

Youth-Mentor Naturalist Training Program
Session One – funded by REI 
Session Two – funded by REI and Wilderness Awareness School Community Donors
Session Three – funded by REI and Wilderness Awareness School Community Donors
Session Four – funded by REI and Wilderness Awareness School Community Donors

The Youth-Mentor Naturalist Training Program (YMNTP) is a four-session program designed by Lindsay Huettman in cooperation with partner organizations Girl Scouts Camp River Ranch and the African American Academy’s Young Queens & Kings Program.

With the goal to extend our programs for all youth, YMNTP offers low-income, inner-city, at-risk youth — a group that is consistently underserved in outdoor connection and education — the opportunity to train in naturalism and to begin to design Community Naturalist Projects to take back to their own neighborhoods. The partnership also creates a new outlet for the Young Queens Program goal of increased youth involvement in civic activities and community connections through exposure to nature stewardship.

“This program made me look at a lot of things differently when I got back home. I started saving more energy, like not turning off the lights and not running the water as much, because I want to help preserve nature as much as possible. I also stopped depending on technology so much and started thinking of ways to do things with my own hands.

At first it was really hard for me when we first got to camp because it was cold, but it got easy as I learned different things to keep me warm. We even learned how to make a fire without matches!”  
–Alivia, age 13

“I learned the more you listen and keep calm, the better thing go and the more you learn. The trip was really nice and made me appreciate what I have.”
–Dariel, age 14

“…when we saw the deer. That was the first time we ever were quiet! You had to be quiet and look down and pretend to eat grass!”
–Dysha, age 11

We consider our programs a success when youth leave having had a wonderful time immersing themselves in the rhythms of the natural world, and upon returning to their communities are excited to find places to continue exploring nature.

Invest in Youth, Build the Future…

We are currently seeking funding to create an ongoing Nature Connection Mentoring program with the African American Academy and other at-risk youth programs. To inquire, please contact Kylie Loynd

 

ALL DONATIONS ARE 100% TAX DEDUCTIBLE AS PROVIDED BY LAW

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Wilderness Awareness School is a division of The Awareness Society, a not-for-profit organization, recognized as Federal Tax Exempt Organization under IRS code section 501(c)(3).