A note on nature mentoring from Kevin Glenn, founder of The Wild Nature Project:

Sometimes our youth and teen programs are seen as something extra-curricular and just for fun. While our programs are lots of fun, what is gained is so much more than a good time. Kids who grow up with this kind of mentoring excel in life and are confident and grounded with high-integrity and have a lot of skills for navigating life's challenges. It's more than just learning to make a fire, it's how to add fuel and grow your fire within you which will open doors and break through fear.

Though it may not be common knowledge, nature connects us with being present, in the moment, in our body, in our senses, seeing complex patterns, feeling relaxed, and even gratitude. Then on top of that we add mentoring which brings out emotional intelligence, leadership skills, the ability to work as a team and to recognize the strengths and gifts of each individual. Are these qualities important or even vital to becoming a developed, capable, and confident adult?

Mentors and nature-connection combined can weave threads of strong, caring, and supportive relations. This is what can not only keep teens out of trouble but also enrich our lives in so many ways.

What made my day on Friday? Giving 11 kids (ages 10-12) the challenge of working together to build a fire (gathering all the wood from the forest) and then lighting it with a bowdrill fire-by-friction kit. We gave them 20 minutes, they did it in 18. Every one of them worked fast and focused, they wanted it bad. We had 2 bowdrill kits each with 2 kids on it working together. There were many leaders but no one demanded from or tried to control the others. They lead by doing and by trusting in the competency of others. When fire was lit we put a pot of Walnut sap over it to boil down into syrup and we celebrated our accomplishments. What a great day!

I should also note that we've been mentoring this group of kids in nature-connection, teamwork, resilience, and survival skills all winter and many of the kids since they were 7 or 8 years old. While schools test the ability to remember facts, we "test" the ability to use their bodies, think quickly and critically, work together as a team, interact respectfully with their environment, and to bring out their individual creativity, personality, and strengths... and the kids love the tests! But they're more like "personal competency challenges" than tests, and at this age the kids live for these kinds of things!