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Wolf Camp and the Wolf College

College Programs

• Apprenticeships
• Expeditions • Classes
• Weekend Workshops
 

Artwork by Wolf Journey alumna Joanna Colbert.


Outdoor Leadership & Nature Guides Training

Full-Time Residential Summer Environmental Education Apprenticeship

The Outdoor Leadership & Nature Guides Training features Outdoor Leadership and Nature Guide certification options, plus program development and employment assistance upon graduation. Click here for course description and logistical details of this program that we founded in 1999 and which will follow this schedule in 2012:

June 8-14: Orientation; Wolf Journey Book One - Trail of the Neighborhood Naturalist; Artisanry Projects; Meet with your personal mentor and receive specialty training with your apprenticeship group.
June 15-16: Help Tend Booth at Washington State Homeschool Convention.
June 17-23: Attend the Earth Skills Educational Training.
June 23, 30; July 3, 10, 17, 24, 31; August 4, 11, 18 Meet with Apprenticeship Mentors.
June 25-29, July 16-20, August 6-10: Learn to teach younger children by assisting a lead instructor during our summer day camps on wildlife tracking, ethnobotany/herbalism, and wilderness survival.
July 1-6, July 8-13, July 22-27, July 29 - Aug 3, August 12-17: Learn to teach Backcountry Travel, Wilderness Survival, Ethnobotany/Herbalism, Wildlife Tracking & Birding, Ancient Scouts, Stone Age Artisanry, and Natural Arts & Music while assisting a lead instructor during our overnight camps.
August 20 - Sept 14: Optional complimentary attendance at another day camp, plus a week of Traditional /Fishing or Permaculture Farm training camps, a week of Honorable Harvesting, and a week at the North Cascades Spirit Trek.
Sept 15-16: Graduation Celebrations & Optional Ethnoecologist Certification evaluation upon graduation which requires a $200 fee for contracted evaluators.

Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship

Summer Residential Program - Celebrating our 10 Year Anniversary

In 2011, all of our Summertime Residential Apprenticeships run June 15th - August 20th, with optional stay until September 10th. In comparision with our other summer apprenticeship choices, the Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship involves the broadest subject matter and features a Nature Guide Certification option plus a broader Earth Skills Instructor Certification option upon graduation.

Scroll Down or Click for Specifics:
• Application Deadlines, Tuition & Enrollment Capacity;
• Mission & Who Would Attend This Program;
• Program Instructors & Benefits including Certification;
• Program Goals & Skills Covered;
• Schedule Breakdown;
• How to Prepare & Apply for this Program; Responsibilities at Camp; Notes from Chris
• Program History & More Depth

Tuition & Deadlines, Credit Info, Cost Breakdown, Refund Policy

Click here for tuition, credit information, cost rationale and refund information. Program Capacity will be limited to 10 students between all our apprenticeships in Summer 2011. Reserve your spot by applying right away.

 

Artwork by Wolf Journey alumn Joanna Colbert.

Program Mission & Participants

The mission of the Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship is that you become an excellent instructor in the field of earth skills. Earth skills education includes the study of nature awareness, herbology, wildlife tracking, survival skills, traditional technologies, permaculture pioneering, and professionally teaching students in outdoor settings. To become even more versed with particular earth skills, also check out our Academic Year Ethno-Ecology Apprenticeships for follow-up programs.

This Summer Teaching Apprenticeship is designed for: 1) experienced naturalist, trackers, herbalists, scouts, artisans, permaculturists, hunters, fishers, biologists and ecologists to learn to teach their crafts to students of all ages, 2) experienced teachers to become versed in earth skills in a familiar fast-paced educational setting, and 3) aspiring earth skills educators to teach youth these subjects while becoming versed in them simultaneously. No matter your previous experience, you will be expected to fully participate in every possible training opportunity to push your skills to a higher level of excellence, although your own health will be the priority while developing into better and healthier instructors. We hope that your development of a personal medicine wheel of health, guided by permaculture principles, the values of earth skills, and your own spiritual study, we hope that each participant becomes a person to whom anyone could turn for learning herbalism and ethnobotany in general.

Chris teaching in 2006.

 

Program Instructors, Benefits & Certification Options

Program Instructors: Chris Chisholm will be your mentor through this experience, with assistance from Kim and guidance from Seasonal Faculty who will be teaching during the summer.

Benefits of the Program: The summertime Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship was our very first Residential Apprenticeship, piloted in 2000. More than half our staff came on board through this program, while others enrolled to receive training in order to found their own schools or gain experience for employment elsewhere. Past apprentices agree that the place they learned the most about how to teach in their life, as well as where they learned the greatest bulk of their earth skills, was while assisting the incredible instructors at Wolf Camp as they guided youth through the summer. Your transformation into an excellent outdoor educator is the greatest of benefits, but as a graduate, you can attend any of our 2011-2012 Academic Year Ethno-Ecology Apprenticeships for just $1,500 per semester, and future appreticeship choices beyond that at similar discounts.

Beyond tuition, travel and health insurance, you need not spend a dime all summer, as all additional expenses are covered with work trade. You don't even need any books, as you will have free access to the Wolf College library. Benefits also include employment assistance or support to develop your own program elsewhere upon graduation, and of course, graduates become eligible to work at Wolf Camp as instructors, though hiring is dependent on enrollment and the ongoing development of your skills. Bottom line is that graduates invariably express how grateful they are in the year following their apprenticeship when they realize that they somehow "just know how to teach" earth skills and other subjects as well. By the end of your summer, you will feel that you have fully embodied and can live up to your title of Certified Earth Skills Instructor and/or Certified Nature Guide depending on your study emphasis.

Click here for a complete description of our Naturalist, Ethno-Ecology & Earth Skills Certification options.



Risk Management Training 2002.

Program Goals & Skills Covered

Your goals will expand over the course of the summer, from learning the basics of earth skills education, to further developing your earth skills, being given teaching opportunities during the summer according to your desire and readiness.

1st Priority: Learn the best methods of teaching earth skills to all ages. The way to become the best of teachers is to observe, participate in, and take notes on all the activities our instructors present over the summer, including staying up a half hour after the kids go to sleep in order to record your experiences. If you just want to focus on learning earth skills, and not on teaching, then apply to attend one of our Academic Year Ethno-Ecology Apprenticeships. Thanks! But if learning to teach as well as expanding your knowledge of earth skills is your goal, then please join us!

2nd Priority: Take care of yourself, while nurturing campers and supporting other staff. It is important that you come into the program as healthy and prepared as possible, for although during the training portion of the program your educational needs are the focus, during the summer camp season, the needs of the children at camp will be the focus, so you will have to learn to remain healthy amongst constant camp activity. This is the trick to a successful teaching career.

3rd Priority: Develop a working knowledge of all earth skill categories. Apprenticeship graduates always relate how at the end of the summer, they were amazed at how this "just happened". The opportunity to assist lead instructors and take on instructional leadership yourself during the summer is a great way to fully embody your own earth skills, because sometimes you can learn best only that which you teach.

Specialty Skills Learned
• Wildlife Tracking & Animal Surveying (identification, trailing, aging, interpretation)
• Birding & Bird Language (academic and song-to-alarm interpretations)
• Naturalist Sketching & Journaling (using sit spots, drawing instruction, quick journaling strategies)
• Skills of the Ancient Scout (sensory awareness, stealthy movement, camouflage, games)
• Wild Edible Foraging & Preparation (Herbs, Nuts, Roots, Flowers, Fruits, Insects)
• Primitive Cooking & Food Storage (pit cook, clay oven, ash cakes, smoking, jerkying, pemmican)
• Medicinal Herb Collection & Preservation (drawing from knowledge of area herbalists)
• Preventative Health & Herbal Spas (from daily health routines, to our special spa treatments)
• Emergency Shelter & Primitive Shelter (debris hut, lean-to, wickiup, thatch hut, earth lodge, split cedar cabins, including fire drafting strategies)
• Wet Fire Maintenance & Fire by Friction (bow drill, hand drill, fire plow, flint & steel)
• Flintknapping & Primitive Tool Making (from harvested stones, bones, wood)
• Bow & Arrow Making (survival bows, self bows, lumber bows, fletching, lashing, etc.)
• Primitive Fishing (wiering, netting, spearing, bow fishing, hand fishing, hook and line, gorges, bullfrogging)
• Natural Water Purification (seeps, filters, rock boiling, and locating natural springs)
• Bowls & Cordage Making (double and triple reverse wrap using nettle, fireweed, cedar, kelp seaweed)
• Primitive Hunting (bow and arrow, rabbit stick, at-latl, ethics, strategies, butchering)
• Hide Tanning (wet and dry scraping, brain and other high-tannin methods, hair on and off)

Experiential Skills Introduced
• Natural Selection Forestry (chopping and chainsawing, wood splitting and moving)
• Sustainable Building
• Organic & Biodynamic Gardening
• Farm Animal Care & Cultivation
• Human Tracking
• Backpacking & Camping
• Land Mapping & Water Navigation (orienteering with and without modern aids)
• Sailing, Kayaking, Canoeing, Raft Making
• Trapping
• Clay Harvesting, Molding & Firing
• Parfleching (carrying cases, drum making, sheaths and quivers with fur and tanned hide)
• Bioregional Ecosystems (old growth temperate rainforest, glaciated alpine meadow, intertidal and estuary, river and lake, wetland and bog, desert and sagebrush steppe, mixed pine and subalpine forest)
• Music and the Arts (flute making, drumming, songwriting, poetry, clay sculpting, natural paints, singing and pianos/guitars on hand)
• Rock Climbing & Alpine Mountaineering

Earth Skills Educational Skills
• Best skills to introduce to each age group (3-6, 7-9, 10-12, 13-15, 16-18, 19-21, young adults, parents, elders)
• Most effective methods to use with each age group (didactic/wolf, questioning/coyote, imagining/fox, imitation/dog)
• Delivery of age appropriate stories (personal, european, african, persian, chinese, other eastern, indigenous)
• Risk Management (assessing sites, planning activities, mitigating hazards)
• Emergency Rescue, Advanced First Aid, CPR (wilderness and water settings)
• Influences of Nature on Spirituality (buddhist, christian, hindi, indigenous, jewish, muslim) including opportunities of retreats and quests, sweat lodges and fasts
• Health & Organizational Strategies (western lineal and medicine wheel use for self, lessons, projects)
• Incorporating Earth Skills & Starting New Schools (examples of non-profits, partnerships, sole ventures, and communities)
• Political Environmentalism (left and right wing strategies, legislative and artistic strategies)



2004 Apprentices relaxing around the campfire.

2011 Schedule:


June 15: If you are driving or taking public transportation to the Wolf Campus, please arrive between 4:00-5:00. If you are flying or taking the bus or train, please book your arrival into the Seattle or Tacoma Transit Stations or SeaTac Int'l Airport by 1:00 p.m. because we will be picking up at those locations at around 2:00 p.m. We will unpack and prepare dinner together from 5:00-6:00, eat from 6:00-7:00, do an introductory orientation from 7:00-8:00, and share stories and music around the campfire from 8:00-9:00.
June 16: Breakfast from 8:00-9:00. Campus renovation meeting and work party from 9:00-12:00. Working Lunch from 12:00-2:00 to set up your blog and prepare Wolf Journey Volume VI - Trail of the Environmental Educator notes (goals, earth skills assessment, etc.) to share with your Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship mentors, then meet with them from 2:00-5:00. Prepare dinner from 5:00-6:00 and eat from 6:00-7:00. Work on Wolf Journey field exercises from 7:00-9:00.
June 17: Breakfast from 8:00-9:00. Help set up our interactive learning booth at the Washington State Homeschool Convention from 9:00-11:00. Learn to make cordage with various materials from 11:00-12:00. Lunch from 12:00-1:00. Learn to make cattail mats from 1:00-2:00. Work on Wolf Journey field exercises from 2:00-5:00. Prepare dinner from 5:00-6:00 and eat from 6:00-7:00. Work on Wolf Journey field exercises from 7:00-9:00.
June 18: Breakfast from 8:00-9:00. Learn to make birch bark baskets from 9:30-10:30, and willow baskets from 11:00-12:00 at the homeschool convention. Lunch from 12:00-2:00. Work on Wolf Journey field exercises from 2:00-5:00. Prepare dinner from 5:00-6:00 and eat from 6:00-7:00. Campfire music and stories from 7:00-9:00.
June 19-24: Sunday Breakfast from 9:00-10:00. Pack from 10:00-12:00. Lunch from 12:00-1:00. Travel to the Yakima Canyon from 1:00-3:00. Set up camp from 3:00-4:00. Prepare dinner from 4:00-5:00 and eat from 5:00-6:00. Begin your training week at 6:00 with the Earth Skills Educational Training: Preparing Lessons and Teaching to All Ages, Backcountry Guiding and Risk Management, Group Facilitation, Wilderness First Aid, Open Water Lifeguarding & CPR, and Issues Facing Outdoor Education. Adults not involved in our Summertime Residential Apprenticeships may attend this course at $525-$675, depending on when they register. Course ends Friday at 5:00. Dinner from 5:00-6:00. Travel back to Puyallup and unpack from 8:00-9:00.
June 25: Saturday Breakfast from 8:00-9:00. Repack for next week's day camps from 9:00-10:00 and attend week-in-review meeting from 10:00-12:00. Working Lunch from 12:00-2:00 to blog your week and prepare Wolf Journey notes to share with your Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship mentors, and meet with them from 2:00-5:00.
June 26: Sunday Dinner from 5:00-6:00. Help lead instructors prepare for this week's day camp from 6:00-9:00 p.m.
June 27 - July 1: Learn to teach younger children by assisting a lead instructor during our Summer Day Camps serving King & Snohomish Counties on wildlife tracking, ethnobotany, and wilderness survival on duty from 8:00-5:00 daily Mon-Fri.
July 2: Saturday Breakfast from 8:00-9:00. Repack for next week from 9:00-10:00 and attend week-in-review meeting from 10:00-12:00. Working Lunch from 12:00-2:00 to blog your week and prepare Wolf Journey notes to share with your Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship mentors, and meet with them from 2:00-5:00.
July 3-8: Sunday Breakfast from 9:00-10:00. Pack from 10:00-12:00. Lunch from 12:00-1:00. Travel to the Bellingham area from 1:00-3:00. Set up camp from 3:00-4:00. Prepare dinner and help orient arriving campers from 4:00-5:00 then eat with camp families from 5:00-6:00. Learn wilderness survivial, herbology and how to teach older youth while assisting a lead instructor during our Overnight Camps at Mt. Baker. Adults not involved in our Summertime Residential Apprenticeships may attend our Wilderness Survival Training & Trek running this week at $525-$675, depending on when they register. Course ends Friday at 7:00. Pack from 7:00-8:00. Travel to Puyallup from 8:00-10:00.
July 9: Saturday Breakfast from 8:00-9:00. Repack for next week from 9:00-10:00 and attend week-in-review meeting from 10:00-12:00. Working Lunch from 12:00-2:00 to blog your week and prepare Wolf Journey notes to share with your Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship mentors, and meet with them from 2:00-5:00.
July 10-15: Sunday Brunch from 11:00-12:00. Pack from 12:00-2:00. Travel to the Olympia area from 2:00-3:00. Set up camp from 3:00-4:00. Prepare dinner and help orient arriving campers from 4:00-5:00 then eat with camp families from 5:00-6:00. Learn wildlife tracking, geo-botany, how to teach older youth while assisting a lead instructor during our Overnight Camps co-sponsored by Wolf Haven, Int'l. Adults not involved in our Summertime Residential Apprenticeships may attend our Wildlife Trackers Training running this week at $525-$675, depending on when they register. Course ends Friday at 7:00. Pack from 7:00-8:00. Travel to Puyallup from 8:00-9:00. Unpack from 9:00-10:00.
July 16: Saturday Breakfast from 8:00-9:00. Repack for next week from 9:00-10:00 and attend week-in-review meeting from 10:00-12:00. Working Lunch from 12:00-2:00 to blog your week and prepare Wolf Journey notes to share with your Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship mentors, and meet with them from 2:00-5:00.
July 17: Sunday Dinner from 5:00-6:00. Help lead instructors prepare for this week's day camp from 6:00-9:00 p.m.
July 18-22: Learn to teach younger children by assisting a lead instructor during our Summer Day Camps co-sponsored by Wolf Haven, Int'l on wildlife tracking, ethnobotany, and wilderness survival on duty from 8:00-5:00 daily Mon-Fri.
July 23: Saturday Breakfast from 8:00-9:00. Repack for next week from 9:00-10:00 and attend week-in-review meeting from 10:00-12:00. Working Lunch from 12:00-2:00 to blog your week and prepare Wolf Journey notes to share with your Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship mentors, and meet with them from 2:00-5:00.
July 24: Sunday Dinner from 5:00-6:00. Travel with lead instructors to the Portland/Vancouver area from 6:00-9:00 and help them prepare for this week's day camp.
July 25-29: Learn to teach younger children by assisting a lead instructor during our Summer Day Camps serving Portland OR & Vancouver WA on wildlife tracking, ethnobotany, and wilderness survival on duty from 8:00-5:00 daily Mon-Fri.
July 30: Saturday Breakfast from 8:00-9:00. Repack for next week from 9:00-10:00 and attend week-in-review meeting from 10:00-12:00. Working Lunch from 12:00-2:00 to blog your week and prepare Wolf Journey notes to share with your Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship mentors, and meet with them from 2:00-5:00.
July 31 - August 5: Sunday Brunch from 10:00-12:00. Pack from 11:00-1:00. Travel to the Pacific Coast from 1:00-3:00. Set up camp from 3:00-4:00. Prepare dinner and help orient arriving campers from 4:00-5:00 then eat with camp families from 5:00-6:00. Learn secrets of the ancient scout, ethnobotany, and how to teach older youth while assisting a lead instructor during our Overnight Camps on the Pacific Coast. Adults not involved in our Summertime Residential Apprenticeships may attend our Wild Ethnobotany & Herbalist Training running this week at $525-$675, depending on when they register. Course ends Friday at 7:00. Pack from 7:00-7:30. Travel to Puyallup from 7:30-10:00.
August 6: Saturday Breakfast from 8:00-9:00. Unpack from 9:00-10:00 and attend week-in-review meeting from 10:00-12:00. Working Lunch from 12:00-2:00 to blog your week and prepare Wolf Journey notes to share with your Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship mentors, and meet with them from 2:00-5:00.
August 7: Sunday Dinner from 5:00-6:00. Help lead instructors prepare for this week's day camp from 6:00-9:00 p.m.
August 8-12: Learn to teach younger children by assisting a lead instructor during our Summer Day Camps in Puyallup on wildlife tracking, ethnobotany, and wilderness survival on duty from 8:00-5:00 daily Mon-Fri.
August 13: Saturday Breakfast from 8:00-9:00. Repack for next week from 9:00-10:00 and attend week-in-review meeting from 10:00-12:00. Working Lunch from 12:00-2:00 to blog your week and prepare Wolf Journey notes to share with your Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship mentors, and meet with them from 2:00-5:00.
August 14-19: Sunday Brunch from 11:00-12:00. Pack from 12:00-2:00. Travel to Dash Point from 2:00-3:00. Set up camp from 3:00-4:00. Prepare dinner and help orient arriving campers from 4:00-5:00 then eat with camp families from 5:00-6:00. Learn stone age arts, traditional technologies, and how to teach older youth while assisting a lead instructor during our Overnight Arts & Artisanry Camps. Adults not involved in our Summertime Residential Apprenticeships may attend our Earth Skills Artisanry Training running this week at $525-$675, depending on when they register. Course ends at the Wolf Campus in Puyallup on Friday at 7:00. Attend week-in-review meeting from 7:00-9:00.
August 20: Saturday Breakfast from 8:00-9:00. Blog your week and finalize Wolf Journey notes to share with your Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship mentors from 9:00-12:00. Working Lunch from 12:00-2:00 to prepare for evening activities. Meet with your Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship mentors from 2:00-5:00. Make Dinner from 5:00-6:00, and eat from 6:00-7:00. Campfire Party & Informal Summer Apprenticeship Awards from 7:00-9:00.

Optional Complimentary Week of August 21-27: Same schedule as for the week of June 26 - July 2 learning to teach younger children by assisting a lead instructor during our Summer Day Camps in the Skagit Valley on wildlife tracking, ethnobotany, and wilderness survival.
Optional Complimentary Week of August 28 - Sept 3: Learn Hunting & Fishing or Sustainable Pioneering/Permaculture and how to teach youth, adults and families, while assisting at Overnight Camps based at SongCroft. Adults and families not involved in our Summertime Residential Apprenticeships can attend our Farm Camp or Honorable Hunting & Fishing Campm running this week at $575-$775, depending on when they register.
Optional Complimentary Week of September 4-9: North Cascades Spirit Trek for summer apprentices and other long-term students.

September 10: Summer Apprenticeship Evaluations & Graduation


Four apprentices and Carol in 2003 surround Chris after giving him a "will teach for food" shirt upon completion of their first training course.



Employment: We only need instructors with experience running camps and teaching in the field of Earth Skills Education, including skills of the Neighborhood Naturalist, Traditional Herbalist, Wildlife Tracker, Survival Scout, Ancient Artisan, Honorable Hunter, Permaculture Pioneer and Environmental Educator. Apply to become an instructor through one of our Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeships.

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