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Apprenticeship & Teacher Training

Interested in Apprenticeship & Teacher Training?

The start of the 2020-2021 Apprenticeship is being postponed at this time. We hope to share new dates in the next few months.

Please sign up above to be notified when registration opens for the next Apprenticeship.


Meeting One Weekend Each Month:

  • One Saturday & Sunday per month
  • Saturdays from 9am-5pm
  • Sundays from 9am-3:30pm
  • Camping is available for those needing overnight accommodations

Instructors:

A team of Wild Earth instructors, staff and special guests including renowned herbalist Dina Falconi, skilled craftsman Andy Paonessa, ecological designer, and long time mentor-Connor Stedman, and Hudson Valley artist, basketmaker, and deeply respected teacher-Katie Grove.

Locations:

Wild Earth’s New Home in Kerhonkson, NY, the Wild Earth Office in High Falls, NY, and other nearby locations.

Sliding Scale:

$2,960 – Actual cost of program
$2,780 – Accessible pricing
$2,580 – Accessible pricing
$2,280 – Accessible pricing
$1,980 – Accessible pricing

*Get 50% off the Make Your Own Pack Basket workshop when you add it to your Apprenticeship registration!

Please think generously and take into account your household income and assets when considering the amount that you can afford (assets refer to savings, family wealth, property, cars, retirement, etc.).

The more that you’re able to contribute, the more aid becomes available to other Wild Earth participants.

Note: Payment plans are available.

2020-2021 Dates:

Content may be subject to change.

September 26 & 27:
Opening Weekend and Orientation
Intro to Mentoring and Deep Nature Connection Practices

October 24 & 25 – Overnight:
Shelter Overnight

November 21 & 22:
Childhood Development and Crafting
The Art of Fire; Coal Burned Spoons

December 19 & 20:
Advanced Firemaking
Make a Twined Bag with Katie Grove

January 9 & 10 (optional add-on):
Make Your Own Black Ash Pack Basket with Andy Paonessa

January 16 & 17:
Wildlife Tracking & Naturalist Studies
Brain-Based Learning and Tools/Routines for Deep Nature Connection with Connor Stedman

February 20 & 21:
Make Your Own Bow Drill Kit
Natural Cycles of Learning (8-Shields)

March 20 & 21:
Outdoor Cooking
Cultural Mentoring and Storytelling

Fri, April 23 (evening only)
April 24 & 25:

Bird Language w/ Connor Stedman
Games and Solo Prep

May 29 & 30 – Overnight:
Fire-Solo Overnight

June 12 & 13:
Wild Edibles and Plant I.D. w/ Dina Falconi
Closing Celebration

Hazardous Weather Make-Up Day:
TBD


 

Apprenticeship Testimonials

“I entered the program with high hopes and have only had them met and exceeded. The range of activities, lessons, modeling of teaching and depth of knowledge of all the instructors astounds me. It’s also been flexible enough to fit into an adult’s schedule.”

“I know I can and will use elements of this in my future work, and again, I am left with a hunger and thirst to understand and practice as much as I can.”

“The program has exceeded my expectations in many ways. The things that have become of particular interest are the concepts of gratitude and stewardship that permeate the entire Wild Earth program.”

“I have taken something away from every session. There is always an opportunity to learn something!”

“You guys are awesome! Intelligent, skilled, compassionate, humorous, and thoughtful. Amazing mentors!”

“This program has exceeded my expectations by fastening me to a committed and lifelong relationship with the wild, indigenous soul. It has given me language, living representations, power in community. I continue to be surprised by my hunger for deeper experience and integration.”

“This program has given me the resources I need, filling my belly with starting points, leaving it up to me where I take them. There has been so much material covered, all in a topical manner, and I appreciate the generosity of Wild Earth instructors in fluidly giving of their knowledge. I think this generosity comes from their own experience that this knowledge means nothing unless adored, practiced, intimately studied. The apprenticeship program really leaves room for the individual to make it what they want it to be, as fully or as sparingly as fits. I expected adventure and got it, not in a hardcore repeat-after-me way, but as a gentle, nurturing, truly perceptive invitation to personal action.”

“The skills that I am learning are being taught in a very easy to understand way, and I am very thankful for that.”

“I was able to learn about personal growth, our inherent connection to nature, as well as cultivating positivity.”

“The greatest gift I received was learning how to mentor and communicate with others in gratitude and respect.”

Additional Questions?

Drop us an email or give us a call and we'll be happy to answer your questions.
hello@wildearth.org
(845) 256-9830

Apprenticeship & Teacher Training

The start of the 2020-2021 Apprenticeship is being postponed at this time. We hope to share new dates in the next few months.


An in-depth experiential training focused on powerful nature mentoring, wilderness living skills, and creating deeply connective experiences in nature.

“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.” — Plutarch

“I never teach my pupils, I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” — Albert Einstein

“[Kids] don’t remember what you try to teach them. They remember what you are.” — Jim Henson

Join the Wild Earth Apprenticeship Program and embark upon three tracks of learning:

Essential Wilderness Toolkit for Deep Nature Connection:

Deepen your nature connection and knowledge of place through first-hand experience. Key areas of learning include sensory awareness practices and naturalist training.

Wilderness Living Skills & Earth-Based Handcrafts:

Make your own black ash pack basket, sleep in a hand-made natural shelter, carve your own bow-drill kit, make healing plant salves, create functional rope, and more.

Teacher Training & Practical Facilitation Skills:

Learn the core principles that inform Wild Earth’s pedagogy of ‘invisible teaching’ and gain capacity in the practical “how to”s of wilderness program instruction.

Experience In The Field (optional):

Join us out in the field at one or more of our youth programs. Apply what you’re learning first-hand and support youth in transformative experiences in nature.


All over the Earth, our ancestors lived in a time before school buildings and lesson plans – a time when children learned how to provide food, stay safe from danger, and become contributing members of their communities without ever being formally ‘taught’ or attending school.

At Wild Earth, we believe that the greatest teachers throughout time have retained and practiced this ancient way of mentoring. We aim to teach ‘invisibly’ in our programs, so that our students are so engaged in their learning that it feels as natural as exploration and play.


1. Essential Wilderness Toolkit for Deep Nature Connection

We believe that a great outdoor educator is not only a person with excellent group leadership tools and knowledge of nature, but also a capable person with tangible skills that young people naturally wish to emulate.

Expand your Nature Awareness through the Wild Earth Apprenticeship’s Naturalist Training:

Birds language and ID

Decipher the songs and sounds of birds and gain awareness of hundreds of sentries.

Tracking and trailing animals

Use tracks and sign in order to better understand wildlife, their movements in the landscape, and their ecological stories.

Expanded awareness

Learn tools to greatly expand your sensory abilities, to notice more of what’s happening around you whether outdoors or in the city.

Edge experiences

Play with fire, cold, dark and more. Expand yourself beyond your comfort-zone.

Camouflage

Disguise your movement, scent and shape. Become invisible in the woods.

2. Learn Wilderness Living Skills and Natural Handcrafts through Wild Earth Apprenticeship’s Hands-On Skill Training:

Shelter building

Stay warm with or without your sleeping bag, in a shelter made of leaves.

Fire-making and fire by friction

Learn ancient methods of lighting fire with your muscles and natural materials.

Tools and crafts

Coal-burn and carve wooden spoons, friction fire kits, and more.

Outdoor cooking

Learn how to create and manage a cooking fire, learn a variety of methods for cooking over a campfire, use bark containers and rocks for boiling, create wildly delicious meals.

Edibles, medicinals, and plant ID

Learn which plants are food and medicine sources, and how to distinguish them from poisonous look-alikes.

Basketry and fiber processing

Learn to create beautiful, functional vessels from natural materials as well as how to create strong rope from wild-harvested fibers.

3. Teacher Training & Practical Facilitation Skills

By cultivating curiosity, passion, and confidence within students, instructors can create a culture of learning, discovery, and investigation. When education is self-motivated and well supported, the learning process unfolds naturally and invisibly.

Apprentices learn the core principles behind Wild Earth’s invisible learning pedagogy as well as practical tips and tricks for planning an invisible learning curriculum. For first year Apprentices, much of the following will be taught through modeling within the program.

Core Principles of Invisible Teaching–

Cultivate curiosity

Plant the seeds of curiosity in your students ahead of time so that when it’s time to teach something, students are already hungry to receive it – or perhaps they even come up with your idea as their very own!

Beginning to understand our responsibility

Acknowledging that the land, as well as many of the practices that we draw from in our programming, have been forcefully taken from First Nations peoples, many at Wild Earth are engaging in conversation about restorative, reparative practices.

Leverage the space and the environment

Let the environment and physical set-up of an activity do some of the teaching for you.

Tailor your curriculum to your students

Gauge the level of challenge your students are ready for and tailor your curriculum accordingly.

Model what you teach

Children naturally imitate adults, embody what you are teaching and students are more likely to follow your lead.

Meet developmental archetypes & yearnings within your students

Understand developmental archetypes and stages of learning and design your lessons to help students to fulfill life-stage appropriate goals.

Foster constructive peer pressure

Employ the support of other students by creating a culture of supportive peer pressure and encouraging healthy risk-taking.

Nurture the emerging leadership qualities in your students

Positive reinforcement can go a long way in building confidence and emphasizing strengths.

Track students’ frustration

Paying attention to your students’ healthy frustration can be your greatest tool as you are assessing and charting ongoing curricula.

Expect failure and success

Both are essential elements of healthy learning. Use questions to tease out especially important insights.

Practical Facilitation Skills–

Camp Skills

Learn to build tarp-shelters, manage cooking fires, and generally keep your campers happy and cared-for in all seasons, including winter!

Songs and Celebration

Learn songs and how to lead them in an engaging way

Storytelling

Discover how to teach through storytelling and practical ways to apply stories. Embrace your inner storyteller.

Games

Games are incredible teachers! Fill your bag of tricks to the brim with games for a wide variety of learning goals, group dispositions, times of day, types of weather, and more.

Teambuilding

Learn great activities and strategies for profiling your students, forging group agreements and resolving conflicts.

4. Experience In The Field (optional)

Apprentices are invited to visit Wild Earth’s year round programs as volunteers. Weekend programs for tots, children, tweens and teens are available for apprentices to volunteer at. Check out some of our upcoming and ongoing programs to learn more here about the programs you could visit.



Michaela Himelfarb


Dustin Lamberta


Esperanza Gonzalez


Jonathan Gonzalez


Alisha Mai McNamara


Connor Stedman


Katie Grove


Andy Paonessa


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©2024 WILD EARTH   |   EIN: 20-1675636   |   2307 Lucas Turnpike   |   High Falls, NY 12440   |   (845) 256-9830

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