Our family heard about Wilderness Awareness School through word of mouth. Friends had tried the program, spoke very highly of it, and when we looked into it further we knew it would be the perfect fit for our oldest, Henry. Henry has loved being outside since infancy. We have many memories of strapping him to […]
Wilderness Awareness School is one of those vital organizations that gives me hope in this bittersweet world. They don’t play by mainstream rules; they commit to their holistic, nature-stained values, and we are all better for it. Discovering WAS years ago felt so right that it was like a homecoming. Kaveh was immediately met, seen, […]
Five years ago, we were preparing to move from Minnesota to Washington so that my husband could attend naturopathic medical school. Moving cross-country, with young ones in tow, to a state that I had never even visited, I was busy researching activities for our children to be involved in when we arrived. I remember wondering […]
My adventures with Wilderness Awareness School started as a volunteer with summer camps. I got so wrapped up in the world of summer camps that I once walked into my orthodontist’s office with a face completely covered in charcoal without realizing it. It wasn’t until I started volunteering at overnight camps that I began to […]
It’s hard for me to find words for the kind of impact Wilderness Awareness School has had on our child. Like the program itself, the changes we have seen in him are deep and far-reaching. This is his fourth year with WAS and we can’t imagine his life without this adventure or these people. He […]
The first rays of light glow through the trees; ferns and vine maples dripping with the memory of rain from the night. Silence gives way to birdsong, joyous, and free, a celebration that the light again returned. Part of me wants to sing with them, to celebrate as they do. The tree frogs’ croak quieted […]
We joined the Wilderness Awareness School 7 years ago. We stumbled upon this gem when we moved to the Pacific Northwest and I was looking for an engaging “activity” for my daughter. At the time, Emily was 4 years old and she entered the Roots and Wings Program. We were impressed by the school’s focus […]
Fifteen years ago I had the opportunity and honor to plant a Tree of Peace with Chief Jake Swamp at Linne Doran. The tree is a Thuja plicata, Western Red Cedar, and I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Western Red Cedars grow with what’s called a central leader. A couple of years ago I […]
How do you express the beautiful impact this school has on a child and our families? It’s hard to express in words. Our journey all began a while back when I went through 2 years of Community School (our teen once-a-week program). This program forever changed my life and left a lasting impression on me. […]
I didn’t want to come to Wilderness Awareness School. Rain. Grey. A survival trip that required me to find my own food for a week. I was happy living in sunny California and originally told my partner he could go without me and just tell me all about it on weekly phone calls. Now, here […]