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Help Refill the VWS Scholarship and Reparations Funds
Every year, more people come to VWS seeking connection with themselves, each other, and the many beings of this place.
We continuously receive feedback that VWS programs help relieve the stress and separation many are experiencing today.
Last year, YOUR DONATIONS provided over $52,000 in scholarship and reparations tuition waivers.
YOU can give others the chance to reconnect in 2023.
Please give by December 31!
Upcoming Programs for Youth
Great Blue Heron Community School
Tuesdays in Putney, VT (Greenwood) – Ages 7-13 – Starts Tue, September 27, 2022
Thursdays in Dummerston, VT (former Camp Arden) – Ages 7-17 – Starts Thu, September 29, 2022
Our community school is our keystone long-term mentoring program that began all the way back in Autumn 1999. The program inspires young people to deepen their relationships with the natural world and each other. Youth gain life skills and confidence, guided by an experienced team of instructors. Our approach to nature connection emphasizes outdoor living skills, naturalist knowledge, dedication to community service and social equity, and social and emotional development.
Foxwalk Forest School
Tuesdays in Putney, VT (Greenwood) – Ages 5-7 – Starts September 13, 2022
Wednesdays in West Brattleboro, VT – Ages 5-7 – Starts September 14, 2022
Foxwalk Forest School supports children ages 5 – 7 to explore the natural world together, learn wilderness living skills, and build self-confidence, teamwork, and knowledge of self, nature, and community. Great foundation for moving on to the longer 6-hour days at Great Blue Heron Community School (or other ventures in their young lives)!
Upcoming Programs for Adults
Introduction to Nature Connection Mentoring with Amy Hyatt
- Where: Online and in your own outdoor space
- When: December 10 & 11, 2022
- Who: adults looking to develop nature connection programs and/or integrate nature connection practices into their lives or work
The past twenty years have seen a proliferation of outdoor programs using “nature connection mentoring”— an approach grounded in natural cycles and the strengthening of community through long-term intergenerational mentoring. The broader field of nature connection mentoring is experiencing rapid expansion, a diversification of approaches, and a robust debate about its relationship to the societal imperatives of equity, racial justice, and decolonization. Learn about methods, practices, and the history and trends in the field. Bring your questions, your challenges, and the contexts in which you are applying this!
The Hunter’s Heart – A Hunting Apprenticeship with Bob Etzweiler
- Where: Brattleboro, VT and surrounding nearby locations
- When: Mar – December, six full weekends
- Who: Adults (Age 18+). Open to both novice and experienced hunters
If you’ve never hunted and want to learn, or if you have hunted, but want a different approach, here is a rare opportunity. Hunting can be an incredible way to deepen our connection to the cycles of life and death, to our food source, and to the natural world.
Affording VWS Programs
SCHOLARSHIPS AND REPARATIONS FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE FOR ALL VWS PROGRAMS. Thank you to our many donors for their support of these funds. See our Policies section for more information.
