Deep Wilds
Wilderness Living Skills
Program for Grades 7 and 8
Custom-Designed for Waldorf Schools

Deep Wilds Wilderness Living Skills Program is a three-part program designed for Waldorf Grades 7 and 8. It is inspired by the realization that how we relate to our environment reflects our inner state, and that a deep relationship with nature affects profound positive transformation in individuals and groups. The program is designed to facilitate greater self-awareness and self-assurance, while building strong interpersonal relationships through a guided immersion into nature. Our highly skilled and experienced staff powerfully supports the journey by teaching the foundation skills of wilderness independence and survival.

Descriptions of each stage of the program and explanations of the main themes that run through the course are presented below, followed by some logistical information.

Program Design:

This program is designed as a three-part progression beginning with Introduction to Living with the Earth, where skills, awareness and routines are introduced. This is foundational and preparatory for the exciting Group Survival Experience. In this adventurous second part the children are challenged as a group to be free in the world of nature in a way which they might not themselves initiate. The culmination of the series is the Solo Challenge. Here the children experience a deep transformation as they take personal ownership of their journey into maturity.

I. Introduction to Living with the Earth

This first trip is an introduction to wilderness skills, awareness, and routines that guide them in gaining the most from the magic of nature. The program is designed to give them a powerful introduction into the stillness of the wilderness mind. This enables them to feel more comfortable and confident in situations wherein they may have previously felt uncomfortable. Students learn to build a shelter that keeps them dry and warm without a sleeping bag. They practice making primitive fire-making tools and learn several other awareness skills and crafts. "Edge" experiences are introduced: such as needing to coal-burn their own wooden spoon so they can eat their soup that night. Another example of an introductory challenge is a daytime blindfold walk. This experience has a complete feeling unto itself and powerfully prepares the children for the next stage of the program.

II. Group Survival Experience

This second program is a group event. Here we deliberately challenge the students to maintain a positive attitude and collectively solve problems in an environment that they might find uncomfortable and frightening. We carefully present every aspect of the program with the full awareness of the subtle yet powerful metaphor that our ability to deal with our outer environment mirrors our own inner journey. The children are continually reminded that their challenge is a metaphor for the challenges they will face as they enter to the adult world. It is stressed that their confidence to accept some discomfort and their courage to creatively face challenge will manifest as important skills for life. Each group has an opportunity to build a group shelter from scratch that will keep them warm through a cold autumn night. They are also challenged to face the darkness of night alone with the aid of a string or some other link to safety, and to step into the world of self-sufficiency by cooking their meals over a fire. The importance of real community becomes clear. Challenges that are intimidating when faced alone become engaging when faced as a group. Students often appreciate previously unnoticed classmates, as the support of the group encourages even the initially reluctant to flourish.

III. Solo Challenge

The final program is a culminating solo experience, an inner vision quest. It is in four parts: preparation, separation, a 24-hour solo experience and reintegration. This experience builds on the skills the students have learned in the previous programs. They are given a few basic things to help them build a shelter and prepare their food. If they choose they can build a debris shelter as they did in the first program, use a bow-drill to start their fire, and use the coal-burned spoon they made previously. They also have the option of bringing matches and a tarp for shelter. The solo experience gives the students a chance to further develop their inner resources. It is an opportunity to deeply experience the external and internal environments: to know the inner stillness and feel their own power. It helps the children to develop self-confidence and knowledge of personal strengths. The solo experience serves as a benchmark in their transition to adulthood, as the children discover their inner direction, motivation and creativity. Reintegration is carefully designed to help the students bring their experience back into their daily lives, so as to be a lasting and sustaining experience.

Letter to Self

At the end of each program, students write a letter to themselves that highlights specific moments of awareness and power. We tell them, "Your opportunity here is to tell you future self something you never want to forget in this very moment." They seal the letters and we collect them to mail in several months time. When they receive the letter, they once again have the opportunity to reflect on who they were and have become from their experience with Deep Wilds.

Themes:

The themes and routines of Deep Wilds are interwoven throughout the program in an engaging and invisible manner. Games, skills, challenges, neccessity, and fun are all part of the fabric of learning and growth that surrounds the children.

Wilderness Survival, Adventure & Awareness

In order to develop greater self-assurance, the students explore and experience core routines of the hunter/gatherer community. With tents as a base camp they practice making and sleeping in natural shelters, or under the stars. They learn to make fire without matches, cook their meals, and discover ways to find safe water. They practice using natural fibers to make cordage, lash tools and make containers. Adventurous night games of mystery, intrigue, and suspense breakdown their fears and build confidence. Enhanced sensory awareness, stillness, and silent movement are practiced as tools to expand awareness of both their surroundings and themselves.

Experiential, hands on living in the natural world.

These times are filled with activities to enhance the senses, the making of tools and crafts from the surrounding environment, and storytelling by the fire. The emphasis here is "experience over information". Much of the feeling is spontaneous and holistic due to program flexibility and instructors who provide real-life "in the moment" opportunities to challenge and support. Some students will go home with completed projects such as bow and drill fire-making sets, coal burned wooden spoons, natural cordage bracelets/necklaces, and tools such as tongs and bark baskets. Other students may bring their projects home to finish.

Passages

Students experience the privilege of self-reliance in our natural world--the ultimate in independence. Within this safe adventure, there are moments when students face their fears through the mirror of real-life experiences: such as being cold, wet, or the darkness of night and the feeling of being alone. This is a powerful time of relearning the importance of community in support of the journey from childhood to responsible adult. This lesson of interdependence is woven into the program through carefully crafted ceremony and celebration. Our intent is for students to discover their own strength, character and resourcefulness--attributes that they will draw upon throughout their lives.

Community celebration and the Arts

Large group activities are employed frequently to build and maintain community awareness. A special evening celebration offers the students an opportunity to integrate their experiences through the creation of original stories interweaving such themes as nature or themselves as a
clan. Instructors offer songs, drumming and stories to the circle which enhance and support the student's experience. Participants are encouraged to sing and tell stories, allowing new context and reflection on their meaning. The celebration enables the students to integrate into their bodies the dynamic and powerful experience of living so intimately with nature--an experience they will never forget.

Logistics

Each program is a 72-hour experience from noon on Monday until noon on Thursday. Introduction to Living With the Earth and the Group Survival Experience can also be delivered as a 48 hour experience ending at noon on Wednesday, although certain program features must be sacrificed due to the shorter time frame. The cost is $240 per student for the 72-hour format and $160 per student for the 48-hour format. All meals are included from afternoon snack on Monday until lunch on the last day of the program. Meals are either prepared by our staff or by the students depending on the specific curriculum.

Programs take place either at our simple outdoor base camp or at Camp Neringa, a full service residential summer camp. Both facilities are near Brattleboro, Vermont.

Up to 1 parent per 4 students are invited to attend at no additional cost. Parents enjoy the program experience that includes simple meals and camping or indoor accommodations, discussions on our program philosophy, and most of all, service to their children through helping with logistics in the field.

Safety

We keep a well-stocked first aid kit on site and there is always an instructor on site trained to the level of Wilderness First Responder. Medical care is available at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, about a 15-minute drive away. Springfield Hospital is a 15-minute drive from Coyote Camp. We emphasize safety, particularly awareness around knives, saws and fire, as well as good hygiene as ways of minimizing the need for medical care. In 7 years and almost 2300 person-days of programming we have had only one injury serious enough to require a couple of stitches and have never had an illness that required a participant to leave a program.

Program History:

Deep Wilds has been running programs for Waldorf Schools for 3 years. Through working with these schools we have learned how compatible our program style and content is with Waldorf education. During his recent sabbatical, David Blair chose to drive to Vermont to share deeper Waldorf philosophy with our staff for several days during the fall of 2001. This has enabled us to further adapt our program content and teaching style to the unique and powerful Waldorf curriculum. Past programs include:

Green Meadow Waldorf School
7th grade May 1999 I. Intro to Living With the Earth
8th grade October 1999 II. Group Survival Experience
8th grade November 2000 II. Group Survival Experience
7th grade April 2001 JI. Intro to Living With the Earth
8th grade May 2001 I. Intro to Living With the Earth
8th grade November 2001 II. Group Survival Experience
7th grade May 2002 I. Intro to Living With the Earth

Mountain Laurel Waldorf School
7th grade September 2001 I. Intro to Living With the Earth
7th grade April 2002 II. Group Survival Experience

Aurora Waldorf School
8th grade May 2000 I. Intro to Living With the Earth