We Did It!

Dear <<First Name>>,

Thanks to YOU, we surpassed our goal of raising $30,000 for the scholarship fund. We raised $34,500, capping off a great year at VWS.

Your gifts lead to nature-connected children, adults, families, and communities. Here are just a few highlights of what you made possible in 2017:

We grew! New and expanded programs meant we added over 10,000 new student hours in the field.
People got raises! Our hard working and incredibly skillful staff are the heart of VWS.
Our programs got more accessible! Over 80 families & individuals received scholarships.

From all of us here at VWS, thank you!

Sam, Amy, Bob, Ash, & the rest of the VWS team

Now, let’s go get outside…

PS - We're excited to be hosting four new adult programs this winter. See the details below. These are likely to fill up fast, so register early!

Programs for Adults:

Winter Tracking Day
February 4th, 9:30am-3:30pm
Marlboro, VT area
Snow on the ground leaves beautiful clues for the curious tracker. Come join the Vermont Wilderness School to build your ecological literacy and find out what the animals are up to in the cold weather! Right now Bobcats are seeking prey, coyotes and foxes are marking in preparation for the February mating season. Whose tracks will we see? Who will we be able to trail over the snows? Come join us and find out!

Women's Tracking Day
February 24th, 9:30am-3:30pm
Western MA

Join experienced tracker Kathy Dean (co-founder of Her Wild Roots) out on the snows to build your ecological literacy and find out what the animals are up to in the cold weather! In this beginner-friendly experiential workshop we will wander over the beautiful land of Franklin County covering basic tracking curriculum, engaging with the natural world around us, connecting with other women interested in wildlife tracking, and having fun!

Wilderness First Aid including CPR
March 17th & 18th, 9:00am-5:00pm
Brattleboro, VT
VWS is proud to host Nicole Thurrell of the Institute for Wilderness & Emergency Medicine for a two day long WFA certification course. An essential course for anyone interested in exploring or working in the outdoors this course covers the basics of emergency medicine outside the bounds of civilization.

Nature Awareness Study Group
6 week program starting in late February
Brattleboro, VT
Quick, can you name twenty tree species in Vermont? How about the five most common birdsongs in Southern Vermont? Best local tinder material? If you can’t— would you like to be able to?

The Vermont Wilderness School is starting a nature study group to do just that. We’ll begin with simple awareness tools that will help you expand your senses and follow with field exercises that can help you understand what you see in your backyard, the local park, or the deep woods.

Programs for Youth & Families:

Foxwalk Forest School (returning in the spring!)
Ages 5-7
February through May. Tuesdays, 10 am - 2 pm. Putney, VT.
Guided by longtime VWS lead instructor Bob Etzweiler. Kids explore the natural world, learn ancient wilderness living skills, and build self-confidence, teamwork, and knowledge of self, nature, and community.

Vermont Art of Mentoring (registration opens end of January!)
Our 6-day experiential training in nature connection and intergenerational mentoring-- now in its 19th year!

Save the Date: Aug 27 - Sep 1, 2018
Plymouth, VT
All ages welcome

Nearby Allied & Partner Events

From VWS Community Member Becca Martenson:

Friends, we are deeply fortunate to have Kalani Souza, a visiting elder from Hawaii, coming to Montague, MA. Kalani is on the east coast for a talk he will be giving a talk at Dartmouth, and he has generously agreed to come to our community and teach two times.

January 19, 1-5 pm at the Montague Common Hall there will be a workshop called Wisdom Teachings of the Moon, Indigenous Practices from Hawaii (preregistration required- please contact rebeccaamartenson@gmail.com if you want to attend)

January 19, 7-9 pm at the Montague Common Hall will be an evening discussion Neighborhood Response to Climate Change and other unpredictable challenges of our times: an Indigenous Perspective

Rev. M. Kalani Souza, is a recognized Hawaiian Kupuna; he is the National Outreach Coordinator for Rural, Tribal and Native Communities for FEMA’s Natural Disaster Preparedness Training Center at University of Hawaii; he is a standing member and past steersperson for PRiMO Pacific Risk Management Ohana IKE Hui Indigenous Knowledge and Education Working Group. He serves on several Federal Native American efforts including IPCCWG Indigenous Peoples Climate Change Working Group, Rising Voices with NCAR national Climate Atmospheric Research Center and he is the founding director of the Olohana Foundation. Recently Kalani has become the chairman of the USGS U.S. Geological Survey, CSU Colorado State University, CSC Climate Science Center’s IPN Indigenous Phenology Network.