Spring/Summer
4 MONTH COURSE DETAILS BY MONTH
Month 1: Day-long, high sierra, CA
This daylong outing will introduce the elements of the program and will engage the group in activities to familiarize participants with practices and skills that we will use throughout the course. Activities include: a hiking/snowshoeing immersion that engages participants in group cohesion and personal reflection.
MONTH 2: 3-day, High Sierra, CA
Description: This weekend will further group engagement in activities to familiarize participants with practices and skills that we will use throughout the course. Activities will include: self and group reflection, solo time in nature, introductory biography work, hiking, nature immersion, basics of fire making, shelter, and spoon carving, and group cohesion activities including group cooking and group gear.
Focus Topic: Relating to the self. Who am I? What do I care about? What are my gifts? How do I limit myself from who I know I can be?
Parent Workshop: The foundations of resiliency. Understanding the origins of maladaptive behaviors. Parental presence as a building block for rooted change.
MONTH 3: 3-day, High Sierra, CA
Description: This weekend will build upon the activities and processes from Immersion Weekend 1 while adding additional self-reflective questions. Activities will include: adventure, challenge, solo time in nature, and group inquiry. We will deepen the biography work, nature skills, and inquiry practices that we began during the first weekend.
Focus Topic: Relating to challenge. How do we relate to our challenges? How do we develop the capacity to be with our hardships without becoming self-destructive? How to create a relationship to our struggles that leads toward growth?
Parent Workshop: The ability meet challenge. Fostering distress tolerance. Helping youth develop the capacity to move through hardship in a good way.
MONTH 4: 5-day, High Sierra, CA
Description: 5-Day Immersion into the High Sierra that will include an extended solo time to create the opportunities to face challenge and reflect deeply upon the direction of one’s life. Activities will combine outdoor challenge, solo reflection, nature skills, and group inquiry. Throughout the weekend we will build upon the activities of the previous months with a particular focus on how we integrate what we've learned throughout the course as our gift to our communities.
Focus Topic: Living in community. What do I offer the world around me? What challenges do I face in my community, family, or school life? How do my gifts and vision benefit the community that I am part of?
Parent Workshop Focus: Motivation and a sense of purpose. Understanding the ways that motivation moves out of a sense of connection and purpose. Supporting our youth in understanding the value of what they contribute to their world.