Welcome
Winter Programs Enrolling
With snow blanketing the ground, Winter is here with inspiring programs for all ages in nature connection and mentoring culture. Winter Sessions for Full Moon Girls and Eyes of the Forest are currently happening.
Full Moon Girls: a Nature Program for Girls Ages 12-16
Begins February, 5, 2010. This is a great collaborative offering of Vermont Wilderness School and the team of Efan Hsieh, Alisha Mai Frank, and Dhyana Miller.
Eyes of the Forest: Naturalist Training for Adults
Winter Session begins January 27, 2010. For all you adults who have been waiting for a program for you, this is it! This is a collaborative offering of Vermont Wilderness School and Connor Stedman.
Oyase Community School 2009-2010:
Oyase is currently in full session but we do have openings at all the different age levels. If you are interested in starting your child mid-year, contact our office to inquire about trial period. Oyase Community School.
VWS Vision Statement
Check out our Vision Statement. Creating, re-creating and refining the Vision is a process that involves the entire community. With this in mind we invite you to read it over and use our "Contact Us" page to let us know what you think.
Ingwe's Path Scholarship Fund
The Vermont Wilderness School created Ingwe's Path Scholarship Fund in 2006 to support community members desiring to attend affiliate programs. For more information and applications go here: Ingwe's Path Scholarship Fund.
Looking for Mark Morey?
In Fall 2006, Mark Morey founded the Institute for Natural Learning, a sole-proprietorship, where you can now find him. The Institute explores ways of paving new paths for regional and national wilderness schools to follow. Some examples include: Boys Rites of Passage, Community and Elder development, Regional Networking among the Northeast wilderness schools, National Art of Mentorings, Native Relationships and Adult Apprenticeships.
www.IfNaturalLearning.com
The Vermont Wilderness School was founded on a commitment to building a powerful community of naturalists, teachers and leaders. Our programs go beyond traditional "environmental education" to help develop a deep understanding of self, community and nature, and in doing so, build healthy connections to the natural world and each other.
What we've been up to
Life is relatively quiet up here in Vermont as we've settled into the dreamtime of the Winter Season under the blanket of snow. We invite you to join us in our dreaming as we plan and organize our 10th Anniversary Reunion and Building Strong Naturalist Communities Gathering this summer, June 10-13, 2010. As this dream grows and spreads, we are excited by the prospect of enjoying a summer weekend with many of the folks who have been a part of Vermont Wilderness School over our 10 year journey -- former Oyase students, apprentices, staff, and board members, founders, donors, Art of Mentoring participants, participants from our many workshops from over the years, and all our current students, staff, board, donors... We envision sharing stories and photos, remembering, connecting, reflecting on our journeys and learning, and most especially to play, celebrate, sing, dance and enjoy each other. We also envision a New England Regional leaders conference looking at how the Building Strong Naturalist Communities Network has grown over the past 10 years, what we've learned from our experiences, and where we are going. If you are interested in helping organize this historic event, please contact the office.
Tell me more about the 10th Anniversary Reunion & Building Strong Naturalist Communities Gathering!
Coming up much sooner, Full Moon Girls and Eyes of the Forest are preparing for their Winter Sessions -- if you are interested in enrolling, please contact us now.
We are also happy to announce the "8 Shields Women's Gathering" occurring at Ashokan Center in Olivebridge, NY the weekend of March 26-28, 2010. This weekend gathering has its roots in the Art of Mentoring and related workshops but is open to women in general interested in how to bring forth the Feminine holistically into our lives, our communities, and a healthy culture that is life sustaining. Vermont Wilderness School is sponsoring this program being offered by Dale Bryner, Miriam Dror, Selena Gallen, Amy Hyatt, Krista Oarcea, Saskia Vanderhoop, and Jill Wallace -- all of whom have been regular staff at the annual Vermont Art of Mentoring.
Women's 8 Shields Gathering details
And for those of you dreaming on the Fall Art of Mentoring, this year's Art of Mentoring and Fall Rendezvous is Wednesday, September 22 through Sunday September 26, 2010. Sign up now to avoid being on the Wait List!!
A message from the Vermont Wilderness School Board of Directors
We launched our 2009-2010 Annual Fundraising Campaign on December 1, 2009. We are grateful to everyone who has responded generously. To date (January 26, 2010), we have received $5,145. If you have been thinking about donating, but haven't yet written that check or donated online, go for it! The on-going work of Vermont Wilderness School is dependent on the support of people like you.
If you are interested in knowing more about Vermont Wilderness School's finances, accomplishments, and donors from the past three years, view our annual reports:
2009 Annual Report download
2008 Annual Report download