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Part-Time Residential Summer Environmental Education Apprenticeship
The Youth Mentoring & Camp Counselors Training features a Naturalist Mentoring Certification option, and is open to ages 13-17, and includes employment assistance upon graduation. Click here for course description and logistical details of this program that we founded in 2003 and which will follow this schedule in 2012:
June 15-18: Orientationl; Wolf Journey Part One - Trail of the Naturalist; Artisanry Projects; Meet with your personal mentor and receive specialty training with your apprenticeship group.
June 19-25: Attend the Earth Skills Educational Training.
June 27 - July 1, July 18-22, July 25-29, August 8-12: Learn to teach younger children by assisting a lead instructor during our summer day camps on wildlife tracking, ethnobotany/herbalism, and wilderness survival.
July 3-9, July 10-15, July 31 - August 6, and August 14-20: Learn to teach Wilderness Survival, Ethnobotany/Herbalism, Wildlife Tracking & Birding, Ancient Scouts, Stone Age Artisanry, and Natural Arts & Music while assisting a lead instructor during our overnight camps.
August 22 - Sept 9: Optional complimentary attendance at another day camp, plus a week of Hunting/Fishing or Permaculture Farm training camps, and a week at the North Cascades Spirit Trek.
Sept 10: Graduation Ceremony
• Optional Ethnoecologist Certification evaluation upon graduation which requires a $200 fee for contracted evaluators.
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Youth Mentoring - Counselor In Training
Featuring a Naturalist Mentoring Certification
Prerequisite: Attendance at any overnight Wolf Camp week prior to April 2013.
Scroll Down or Click for Specifics:
• Responsibilities of the Youth Mentors;
• Program Schedule & Tuition Choices;
• How to Apply for this Program;
Background:
During the second official Earth Skills Mentoring course that I taught, a group of five talented young people helped me develop a "medicine wheel" of ethics and responsibilities associated with being a good "earth skills mentor" or good role model when helping to guide others into the field of earth skills.
I would like to begin in the northeast, the place between the end (north) and the beginning (east) in a cycle when viewed from a northern hemispheric perspective. Besides, the sun was rising in the Northeast as we thought about this just after the summer solstice, though during the winter, the sun does not illuminate this direction, so it becomes a place of darkness, gestation, pregnancy.
As you can see on the attached page, we decided to place the concepts of "humility" and "respect", or Humble Respect if you don't mind some redundancy. Without this ethic of Humility and/or Respect, we can never be open to new possiblities, nor take direction from our elders or listen to our children. In fact, this is the direction in which many people believe our ancestors and "future generations" dwell, the very entities from whom, and for whom, we bother going around this wheel.
Then we decided to place "appreciation" in the east, initially because I had heard some members of the Iroquois confederacy talk about "words before all else", meaning that it is critical to start with an attitude of appreciation and speak those sentiments before beginning any journey, meeting, celebration, or other endeavor. Appreciation, we also decided, included "open mindedness" and "acceptance" in its definition since when we start new things, or meet new people, we choose, however conciously or unconciously, to ignore red flags, allow ourselves to be a bit niave and see things with "rose-colored glasses". Otherwise, we would never try new things, get to know new people, or start new relationships.
Turning to the southeast, we must remember to use our intelligence, which is a combination of our "common sense" and "creativity." As one of the up-and-coming naturalist mentors pointed out when thinking about assessing a new relationship, she may be initially attracted to a guy in the "east," but she won't spend time alone with him until she thinks critically about whether that guy is going to treat her well. In other words, we must do what no other species can actually choose to do, which is think critically after our heart is into something, before choosing to proceed into the challenging work associated with the south.
In the south, we placed honesty, but we also liked the concept of "sensitivity" in that location, so though we decided that it was important to be honest, it was also important to speak the truth with sensitivity toward how our words and work would be received by others. We also thought that it was important to flush out the truth before really getting too far into a project or relationship, thereby helping make it flow as smoothly and efficiently as possible.
Turning to the southwest, we realized that we really needed to work hard to accomplish anything, or to work through the difficulties of a project or relationship. We decided that the act of "will power" was an ethic that needed to be developed more fully in human beings in order for us to not succumb to forces that draw us away from our highest good. We can pray, and hope that our higher power will keep us from engaging in our vices, but in the end, we must try to have the strength to choose the high road ourselves, more and more as we go around the wheel and become stronger, wiser, more of an elder, more of a mentor or role model for others. The more we can develop our "will forces," the better we can serve the project or relationship.
In the west, the Iroquois again teach us the second of their three "principles of peace", which is the concept of "unity." Since we are dealing with the field of earth skills, in which there are a few founders with big egos, (otherwise this field would not have been developed), but egos that are not only big but also sometimes unbalanced, (otherwise there would be more unity and lifelong mentoring going on), we need to remember to balance our egos and stay united not only with our personal tribe, but also as a confederated set of earth skills educational institutes.
Turning to the northwest, we wanted to remember that it is important to enjoy what we do, and endeavor to maintain interest in the skills even though we have been working with them for quite a while around the the wheel. In addition, before we can truly love (the ethic we'll be placing in the north), it is critical that we choose to have interest in others, because in the end, love is a choice, not necessarily a feeling of infatuation any more. I have found that choosing to have interest in someone or something is one of the critical aspects in order to achieve true love.
So in the north rests the ultimate achievement, that of peace and love. Again, we find the Iroquois principles of peace as our standard, that we must hold an uplifted mind of peace, but that in order to sustain it as the falible humans that we are, we must continually do all the other work around the rest of the wheel.
Responsibilities of the Youth Mentor
We need to bring the ethics of earth skills mentoring into reality through manifesting certain responsibilities. Corresponding to the ethic of appreciation in the east, we decided that for participants in the Wolf Camp Cooperative, that we would be sure to write thank you notes to students who attended courses which we mentored.
To balance our actions, we look to the west on the opposite side of the wheel, where we find the ethic of unity, and we decided that the group mentor would take the initiative to pass around a contact list for students in a group to write their contact information if they wish, and then email the list to each participant who wrote down their information.
Turning to the southeast, we decided that to cultivate our intelligence, that in order to mentor courses in the following busy season, that we would have to maintain a 2.5 grade point average (80% or B-/C+) overall, and have no failing grade. Opposite on the wheel we put joyful interest, and since the interest we most enjoy is the study of earth skills, that we would have to enroll in at least one week of new earth skills training each year, and journal at least 1 chapter of field exercises in the Wolf Journey or equivalent curriculum.
Turning to the south and the ethic of sensitive honesty, we decided that we could not mentor a program for one year if we broke any significant law except for purposeful civil disobedience. Opposite in the north is the ethic of love and peace, so we decided that our responsiblity in the off season would be to mentor someone who looks up to us or someone who we would otherwise dislike.
In the southwest is the will to serve, so we decided that we would do some earth skills related service project, for which our volunteer mentoring during earth skills courses would count, or we could teach a new group of students some skill back home, or do something like a restoration project. Opposte on the wheel is the ethic of humble respect, and we decided that we would do some service for an elder in our lives, such as a parent, teacher, or other mentor.
Additional Note from 2008:
When visiting the Smithsonian Institution Museum of the American Indian around New Years 2008 with Wolf Camp staff members Lorien MacAuley, Scott Fanello, Micah Fay and Andrew Twele, we came across a display about the 7 values inherant in the Anishanabe Nation, also known as the Chippewa Indians who speak the Ojibwe language, from the area of the country my family is from: the lands surrounding Lake Superior. The museum display gave credit to Garry Raven and Conrad Spence who pointed out the following principles, or values, associated with walking the good road in the Anishanabe way, including:
TRUTH: This value was symbolized, or embodied by, the Turtle in the museum's display. It was explained that the Creator is Truth, like the Sun is always true, as no one can change it. Truth represents that which never changes.
HONESTY: This value is embodied by the Sasquach, also known as the Wilderness Man. In the display, honesty was described as having to do with how we see ourselves, that we need to see ourselves accurately in order to achieve health, happiness, and harmony in life. Wilderness Man was described as looking after human life. His honesty encourages ours, and is reflective of how we treat his home: the natural world.
HUMILITY: This value was embodied by Wolf, who teaches us our place, as we put ourselves where we belong in the universe.
COURAGE: Bear represents moral courage, the strength to follow the Way. In other words, it gives us the courage to embody all 7 of the teachings, to responsibly care for our families and each other.
LOVE: Through its love for people, Eagle says that to love someone, you have to love yourself first.
RESPECT: Buffulo
WISDOM: Beaver
2011 Schedule & Tuition Choices
Prerequisite: Attendance at any overnight Wolf Camp week prior to April 2013, or enrollment in at least one season of Wolf Journey classes.
• First, submit an application as described below along with your:
$175 program fee (half refundable and half of which may be credited to other camps/programs if your application is not accepted);
$175 deposit(s) on the Earth Skills Educational Training and/or The Naturalist Mentor - Counselors in Training week(s) (half refundable and half of which may be credited to other camps/programs if your application is not accepted) with balance(s) due of $350 if application is received by September 10th, $375 if application is received by November 5th, $375 if application is received by December 20th, $400 if application is received by February 5th, $425 if application is received by March 10th, $450 if application is received by April 30th, or $475 if application is received by June 5th, or $500 thereafter.
$175 deposits on at least one new overnight camp week for your continuing education. Our regular refund policy applies to those deposits, with balance(s) due of $350 if application is received by September 10th, $375 if application is received by November 5th, $400 if application is received by February 5th, $425 if application is received by March 10th, $450 if application is received by April 30th, or $475 if application is received by June 5th, or $500 thereafter.
$175 deposit(s) on at least one overnight youth camp(s) you want to "mentor" during a week when you've taken BOTH THE INTRODUCTORY AND ADVANCED LEVEL CAMPS if available, one of which may be substituted by equivalent day camps, wolf journey classes and workshops, courses at other earth skills schools, etc. Your balance will be $0 if application is received by September 10th, $25 if application is received by November 5th, $50 if application is received by December 20th, $75 if application is received by February 5th, $100 if application is received by March 10th, $125 if application is received by April 30th, or $150 if application is received by June 5th, or $175 thereafter. Half your payment is refundable, and half may be credited to other camps/programs if your application is not accepted.
Finally, choose at least one kids day camp(s) you want to mentor. If you are accepted into the mentoring program, you may add $175 payment(s) for room/board if you plan to stay with us overnights during the day camp week(s).
TOTAL FEE for Youth Mentoring CIT Program in 2013:
$175 program fee that is refundable if your application is not accepted.
$525-$675 for training week depending on when you apply;
$525-$675 for training week depending on when you apply per new overnight camp (minimum of one);
$175-$350 per overnight youth camp you serve as a mentor, depending on when you apply;
Plus room/board/travel during day camp weeks you mentor outside your home area =
MINIMUM of $1,400 if you live near the day camp location where you mentor, and attend the minimum required weeks.
MAXIMIM of $5,325 if you attend all overnight camps as a student (except mentoring one) and all day camps as a mentor.
Optional Naturalist Mentoring Certification evaluation can be scheduled in according to your school calendar. Also see the Academic Year Earth Skills Apprenticeship for a follow-up to this program.
Application Process
First, decide whether you can meet the Responsibilities of the Youth Mentors written above. If you feel you can go forward, first call Chris Chisholm at 253-604-4681 or send an mail with questions. Next, write an application with the following information included:
1) Write clear, concise goals as a Youth Mentor, including your intention to complete what you begin, and whether you want to be evaluated for a Naturalist Mentoring Certification this fall.
2) List your planned schedule, including time at Wolf Camp and time elsewhere this summer, starting with the day school ends and when it starts again in the fall. Use the information under Schedule & Tuition Choices above as a guideline.
3) Expand on the definition of Humble Respect when it comes to treating your peers, elders, and younger children, as described in the "northeast" at top of page.
4) What does it mean to really Appreciate your peers, elders, and younger children, expanding on the description of "east" at top of page?
5) What are the limitations of Intelligence, Common Sense, and Creativity, if any, when dealing with peers, elders, and younger children, according to the description of "southeast" at top of page?
6) Where do you draw the line between Honesty and Sensitivity when interacting with peers, elders, and younger children? Use the description of "south" at top of page as a guide.
7) In what ways do you react unconsciously in situations, where you need to increase your Will forces when dealing with peers, elders, and younger children? Use the description of "southwest" at top of page as a guide.
8) Where do you draw the line between Unity and personal freedom in relation to peers, elders, and younger children? Use the description of "west" at top of page as a guide.
9) Can you be genuinely interested in peers, elders, and younger children even when you don't feel like it? If so, give an example, and use the description of "northwest" at top of page as a guide.
10) Give your definition of Love, using the description of "north" at top of page as a guide.
11) What has been your past experience with teaching, organizing or guiding peers, elders, and/or younger children, if any?
12) List all previous outdoor educational training you have received, both personally and institutionally:
13) List all the earth skills you know, and to what level you have experience with them:
14) List the earth skills you want to continue developing and those that you want to start developing, along with your strategy for each:
15) Include a letter of recommendation from a recent employer, or if you have none, then someone you have done personal work for.
16) Include a letter of recommendation from a recent teacher
17) Copies of any certifications, degrees, licenses and background checks should also be provided if 18 or older.
18) Read the Expectations & Agreements section below, and write any questions or concerns you have with them. Otherwise, acknowledge that you understand your expectations and agree to abide by Wolf Camp guidelines.
19) Sign and date your application, and note any improvements we should make to this page, the website, or camp in general. Thanks!
Expectations & Agreements
The most important behavioral expectations while enrolled in the apprenticeship programs include: pouring your greatest effort into learning these earth skills and teaching skills; maintaining professional hygiene (including appearance and smell of body, hair and clothes) and behavior (including the very same agreements which youth campers must uphold during camps and contracts guaranteeing the physical and emotional safety of all participants - see youth camp pages to read these agreements - obvious exceptions include provisions for married persons, for example) throughout the summer youth camp season; remaining free of drugs (including alcohol, tobacco, and illicits) during the youth camp season; never harboring any illegal items, people or behavior on or in the vicinity of Wolf Camp; never having participated in child abuse or workplace sexual misconduct, nor having any impulse to do so; not unfairly discriminating against anyone based on color, ethnicity, origin, sex, sexual orientation, religious preference, or handicap; and performing in a professional, safe manner to help make Wolf Camp the most excellent outdoor educational program possible.
Remember, teaching these skills is not for everyone, because some are not ready to put the needs of students above their own needs. If a person simply wants to learn the skills instead of spending time assisting others, I encourage them to get those week-long trainings I suggest above, and then depart into the wild, armed with the Wolf Journey curriculum to live the skills.
People wanting to train as teachers in this field need to begin by writing a letter to detailing their passion as an outdoor educator, and their clear intention to complete whatever commitments they plan. The letter should include a description of how you meet the Responsibilities of Youth Mentors written above. The letter should also include a description of any training, skills or experience they may have in teaching, coordinating and guiding outdoor educational activities; a description of any previous environmental education they have received, including academic work, mentoring during childhood, personal dirt time, and trainings at schools in the field. Age groups previously taught and a description of knowledge of people's needs at each age is also important.
The letter should also list all the nature awareness and survival skills the potential instructor knows, self-assessing their level of expertise with each, plus a description of their methods of continuing education in these skills. A letter of recommendation from a recent employer, and a letter of recommendation from a recent teacher should also be at hand. Copies of certifications, degrees, background checks and licenses should also be provided.
Agreements should be signed by all parties involved, and I always have my staff certify that they will remain free of drugs not prescribed by a physician, from 30 days prior to planned contact with program participants until the program ends, and free of alcohol 24 hours before the onset of a program. They should also guarantee that they have never been convicted of child abuse or dismissed from a workplace for sexual misconduct. The boundaries around emotional and physical attachment to students must also be discussed.
Finally, in this nascent professional field, we must never unfairly discriminate against anyone involved in activities based on color, ethnicity, origin, sex, sexual orientation, religious preference, or handicap; and we should agree to perform in a professional, safe manner to help make classes and outings in this field as excellent as any other educational program available today.
We teachers should feel knowledgeable about the needs of students of all ages and abilities that we teach before taking on responsibility. We should know how to inspire, then focus, then reward students appropriately, noticing the expectations of students and giving consistent consequences for behavior.
We should know what it means to notice a student crying inside a facade, then act effectively instead of getting one's own buttons pushed; what it means to notice a student about to act out, then move in advance to nurture and remember to follow up on it later; to notice one's own plan and notes while opening one's self to what the higher selves of the students truly want us to bring them.
We should prepare for and mentor new teachers as well, seeking the best balance between teaching through example and delegating responsibilities. Instructors also need to ensure 100% presence of mind by an appropriate adult for all students by providing adequate activities and breaks for self, trainees, and students.
Benefits of the Program
1. Train youth experienced in the outdoors as Naturalist Mentors so they can effectively share earth skills with their friends, family and community.
2. Train future instructors for Wolf Camp by experiencing all of our educational methods, outdoor leadership skills, and organizational systems.
3. Train young people to bring earth skills education to other summer camps when employed as counselors elsewhere.
4. Train young people with work skills applicable to any employment situation, as well as life skills important for the post-high-school era.
Earth Skills Educational Skills Gained
• Best skills to introduce to each age group (3-6, 7-9, 10-12, 13-15, 16-18, 19-21, young adults, parents, elders)
• Most effective methods to use with each age group (didactic/wolf, questioning/coyote, imitation/ant)
• Delivery of age appropriate stories (personal, european, african, persian, chinese, other eastern, indigenous)
• Risk Management (assessing sites, planning activities, mitigating hazards)
• Emergency Rescue, Advanced First Aid, CPR (wilderness and water settings)
• Influences of Nature on Spirituality (buddhist, christian, hindi, indigenous, jewish, muslim) including opportunities of retreats and quests, sweat lodges and fasts
• Health & Organizational Strategies (western lineal and medicine wheel use for self, lessons, projects)
• Incorporating Earth Skills & Starting New Schools (examples of non-profits, partnerships, sole ventures, and communities)
• Political Environmentalism (left and right wing strategies, legislative and artistic strategies)
Certification Received Upon Evaluation: Certified Naturalist Mentor
Wolf Camp - A Haven Of Physical & Emotional Safety: Please read these agreements for participation in camp. They are particularly important to ensure a safe, educational, and fun experience under challenging circumstances that are unique to the WolfCamp. Parents: please explain to your child that deciding to participate in Wolf Camp means agreeing to honor the experience as a safe haven for every person - physically and emotionally. Also, please help us best explain the following agreements by discussing them with your child in an age-appropriate manner consistent with your family values. Campers will also add agreements they wish the group to honor during the week, and instructors will have a few more details to add that will help make Wolf Camp fun and safe. Adults: please edit agreements for age appropriateness.
____I will remain within the designated boundaries during camp. The boundaries will be pointed out when we arrive at camp.
____I will go off by myself only with clear permission from my group leader. Otherwise, I will always be with a partner and make it known to my group leader our whereabouts.
____I will only enter water under clear direction from a lead camp instructor.
____I will respect the personal boundaries of others in camp, including bodies, belongings, and behavior that others may or may not witness. We will discuss appropriate sleeping, dressing, and bathroom situations at the start of camp.
____I will refrain from sharing any stories, jokes, or comments which are derogatory toward others in camp, toward groups of people in the outer world, or toward sacred themes such as bodily function, including human reproduction. Also, all participants agree to discuss only age-appropriate themes and behaviors around younger campers without adult supervision.
____I will refrain from taking action satisfying romantic desire or sexual attraction while participating in WOLF Camp.
____I will refrain from using drugs, including alcohol, from 24 hours before the day camp starts, until my last contact with any camp participant after camp is over. I will bring a written description of any prescribed medicines, including instructions for intake.
____I will respect the sensitive plants and animals in special areas during camp, and I will put nothing in my mouth that I don't know 100% that it won't cause illness or poisoning.
____I will always encourage others to rise to the challenge in every group activity.
____I will always watch out for the safety of every person in camp.
These agreements will be discussed the first day of camp to clarify them for participants, and campers will also add agreements they wish the group to honor during the week. Instructors will also have a few more details to add that will help make camp fun and safe.
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