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Lead Faculty


Chris, Kim & Skye; September 2009

Chris Chisholm, Wolf Camp Director: Chris grew up in the north woods of Minnesota, and he is author of the Wolf Journey Earth Conservation Courses. He moved west after earning a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin in 1991, and from 1992-95 he worked as a Level II Certified Youth Counselor at Sea Mar Community Health Centers. He taught Spanish from 1995-97 at the Whatcom Hills Waldorf School, and was an active member of the Whatcom County Chapter, Washington State Music Teachers Association from 1996-2003. He was certified as a basic tracker by Joel Harden Professional Tracking Services and was an active member of Snohomish & King County Search & Rescue tracking teams throughout 2009-2010. He also earned a Level II Wildlife Trailing Specialist Certificate from Cybertracker, Int'l in 2012 with a score of 87% and he has received training in Wilderness First Aid, Emergency Water Rescue, and Site/Risk Management over the years from the Wilderness Medicine Training Center, and completed training as an EMT in 2009. In addition to running Wolf Camp since 1996, he has taught for the North Cascades Institute, Waldorf Schools and various other organizations up and down the west coast. Chris is considered an inspirational storyteller, musician, teacher, counselor, outdoorsman, conservationist and friend to all who have shared time with him at Wolf Camp.

Kimberly McKillip Chisholm, Wolf College Coordinator: Kim grew up in Puyallup, Washington. She is a delightful teacher with a B.S. in Wildlife Science from the University of Washington where she specialized in corvids and birds in general. Kim is past president of King County Search Dogs, a unit of King County Search & Rescue, of which she and her border collie Skye were active members since the year 2000. Among other trainings, she recently received her Permaculture Design Certificate through Sustainable Tacoma-Pierce.

Skye

Skye McKillip Chisholm, December 27, 1999 - May 2, 2012, In Memoriam, Best Search Dog, Best Camp Dog, Best Friend. Kim & Skye trained nearly every week with King County Search Dogs who were, in turn, called out almost weekly in search of lost children, hikers, the elderly, and those who came to unfortunate ends, even if it had been decades prior. Skye worked for a year with cancer, including her last search just the weekend before passing, and she was playing catch up until the last hour. At camp, Skye cured any homesickness, kept us safe and happy. She will be missed, but her spirit lives on!


RECENT COMMENTS
(Please email us with your comments. Thanks!)


"We had a really great time--it was fun, and LOTS of great information! Looking forward to the next one." - Janet Traweek, Homeschool Class Parent, Vancouver WA, January 2011

"I am so glad something like this exists in this area to facilitate awareness among people about the natural world. I am thankful for Chris and Kim dedicating the time to making long trips over the pass just to accomplish this." - Tiffany Olvera, Parent of Wolf Journey Homeschool Classes in Ellensburg, November 2010; and from December 2010: "I enjoy being in an enviroment where my knowledge and skill are appreciated and I want to learn at the same time. It is a wonderful sharing that sparks the creative juices. We cannot wait for another meetup."

"It was great! The kids loved it and so did the adults! We plan to continue the activities at home and look forward to the next class." - Brandie Penningroth, Homeschool Parent of 4 from Mission, B.C., Sept. 2010 attending Mt. Vernon Wolf Journey Classes, and from November 2010: "Another great class! The kids were so excited to show off their rope making skills that they were still twisting away at 10:30 pm! Thanks." - Then from December 2010 after arranging a class in Sumas WA for other Homeschool Families from British Columbia: "My family enjoyed yet another great wolf camp! Really liked the incorporation of outside activities as well as inside ones. Great activities and information. I love that I get to learn new things right alongside my kids. The group was awesome and we learned a lot, as usual. Kids are inspired to look around outside and see what other uses that they can find for plants that we have on our property! Many thumbs up!"

"We really enjoyed this class! So much interesting information and fascinating for both kids and adults. My daughters talked about it for hours after it was over. We'll definitely be back next month and we'll probably do the summer day camp too. Thanks, Chris and Kim!" - Jill Caywood, Parent in Ellensburg Homeschool Class, October 2010

"Chris - I just wanted to let you know how thrilled the kids were with their wolf camp experience. Also, thanks so much for the feedback.... Hope to see you at some of the homeschool classes." - Julia Taylor, Fox Island parent of Puyallup Day Camps & Wolf Journey Classes 2010

"Hey Chris! Antonio LOVED being at your camps this summer. He seemed a little more mature and self-assured than he was before... Cool! Do you have any camps coming up this fall that Michael and I should know about? Thanks a bunch." - Lisa Pacot, September 2010, Parent of Day Camper turned Overnight Camper, Shoreline, WA 2004-2010

"We are definitely on board for Wolf Camp again next summer ... and only want to attend Wolf Camp in the future.  I knew Ethan would love it, so I'm glad we made him give it a try. Thanks again for providing such an awesome camp opportunity for the kids. We feel very grateful that Wolf Camp has become such a meaningful part of our summer tradition." Thea Kleiber, September 2010, Bellingham Parent of Overnight Campers, 2007-2010

"This is a wonderful camp! I have been going every year for the past 7 years and I still love it. At wolf camp kids get to experience things that most people would never get to try, like tracking a wild animal or playing all night capture the flag. I recommend this camp very highly to anyone who is interested in learning survival, awareness, and many other outdoor skills." Parr Stover, 2010, Day Camper turned Overnight Camper turned Youth Mentor

"This was my first time going to camp, and I had so much fun and learned more about nature than I ever have before! I feel like every other thing out of my mouth is a story from wolf camp! And Chris, Kim, Rachel, Andrew, you were all so nice! Thanks so much! :)" - Cheyenne Dennis, Vancouver, WA, Wolf Journey Peaceful Arts & Music Camp 2010

"Hi Chris. Thanks for your note. From what I can tell, Kareis had a great time. He said it was the best camp he had ever, ever been to. Over the last few weeks he has often referred to something that happened at camp or something he learned. I noticed when I picked him up that he had a different energy about him -- in a very positive way. I think it was really good for him to bond with a group of boys. He wants to do it again next summer in the "advanced" group because he wants to dig the camoflage trenches. Several other parents of Kareis' friends have asked me about it and I told them he had a very good experience, so maybe they'll try it next time. Thanks again!" - Debbie McDermott, Olympia Parent of Camper in Secrets of the Ancient Scout 2010

"My son Joe wore his Wolf Camp shirt today.  And that made me think about what a wonderful time he had at Wolf Camp way back in June!  It was a terrific way to start our summer.... Again, thank you for providing a welcoming, warm environment for Joe at Wolf Camp this past June. Take care, Margi Hansen." - Olympia Day Camps at Wolf Haven 2010

"This camp has taught me amazing wilderness skills in a large range, from survial in the witderness to tracking animals and making natural medicine. I reccomend this camp, especially the overnight ones to anyone whoe loves nature or likes being outside." - Preston Stover, Seattle, Age 14, Seventh Camp Year, Youth Mentor in Training 2010

"Hi Chris. Bella had a wonderful time and said that Wolf Camp was even better this year and she felt like she learned so much! I forgot to ask you where you were looking for feedback which we will gladly give as we would love nothing more than many more years of Wolf Camp for both of our daughters." - Lori Faulkner, Seattle Parent of Camper in Wild Herbology 2009-10

"Thank you for the great week -- Lucy couldn't stop talking about camp and all she was learning.  We got a mini-lecture every day after we picked her up. (Presentations for parents were) really nice, by the way! - Kim M., Mill Creek Parent of Day Camper in Wild Chefs & Herbology 2010

"Our son has had a fantastic week. He's already talking about what camp he wants to do next year (herbal) and doing overnight camp too when he gets older. I'm so pleased with all of it and think you two are fantastic at what you do. You will definitely have campers from our family for years to come." - Jenny K., Seattle Parent of Day Camper in Future Survivors Fun, 2010/07/05-09

"This workshop was awesome! We found tracks left by raccoon, elk, deer, great blue heron, coyote, river otter, and others. With help from (Kim &) Chris' lovely assistant Skye we learned to distinguish wild from domestic canine tracks and were introduced to the arts of determining the age of a track and interpreting what the animal was doing / thinking when it made the track. We finished the day with a stroll through the woods for practice finding animal sign in forested areas. It was a great time and we all learned a lot!" - Jurgo Bielowski, Tracking Workshop, 2010/06/05

"I went to Clark's Creek Park in Puyallup last night to attend a a class about tracking animals. We went into a park, near dark, to learn how birds interact with other birds using five different communication styles. Chris & Kim, the instructors, identified the alarm calls of a robin being vocalized to others and sure enough we spotted the dark form of a Barred Owl in the direction of the alarm calls. Later we saw the owl swoop down and grab dinner off the forest floor. Just to show off he landed in the tree above us with a mouse in his talons. I was sold. Just being able to identify a bird is great but limiting, knowing it's vocalizations helps you understand the pulse of the forest. A more dimensional awareness in the woods learning these bird calls is important. It's like the difference between an Imax 3D movie and a rerun on TV in a foreign language. Anyway I had a good time, also learned how to handle nettle plants. He said it's the most nutritious plant in the forest. Indians used the fiber for fish nets, very strong stuff." - Mike Weatherby, Wolf Journey Class, 2010/04/29

"It was a relaxed group of participants with varying degrees of outdoors experience. Throughout the day, we learned about the uses of local plants for survival. Chris encouraged active learning among the group with his careful explanations on how to harvest and consume plants on the trail in a sustainable way.We spent the second half of the day at Chris and Kim's farm, where we saw how to make a fire, soup bowls, and boiled nettle stew using nothing but wood and stone. We also used freshly harvested ingredients to make tinctures and balms that we took home in sample jars. As another eloquent attendee put it, learning how to survive in nature makes it possible to walk out of your home and feel like you're walking into your living room. By the end of this meetup, sitting by our fire and drinking nettle soup, I had tasted the possibilities of living in the wilderness, and was ready to come back to learn survival skills in more serious detail." - Samual Wan, Herbal First Aid Workshop, 2010/03/05

"Chris, I attended the training session on Saturday. Thank you for a such a terrific experience. I enjoyed it even more than I expected and came away wanting to know more." - Tim Crowther, Wilderness Survival Workshop in Puyallup, 2010/02/05

"Thanks for the class dates, Chris. I am looking forward to them, as I enjoyed last night immensely. There is something deeply satisfying about working with your hands while chatting with other wonderful people. I also really appreciated your humble, egalitarian teaching style-- how you elicited knowledge from others in the group and let everyone teach everyone instead of looking to you as the only "expert." When letha challenged you about the hummingbird feeding, I was very impressed how open you were to her ideas... it impresses me when people treat someone who disagrees with them with as much respect as someone who agrees with them. You put people at ease, and that is always a better mind space from which to learn." - Chris Wolf, Bellingham Adult Class, 2010/02/01



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