My time at Shaver’s Creek became the foundation for the most impactful parts of my life.
Years at Shaver’s Creek: 2008–2011
Positions Held: Outdoor School, Block/SEED Semester, ORION Leader
Current Company/Organization: Catskill Edible Garden Project, Sullivan 180
I first experienced the power of outdoor education as a counselor on my first Outdoor School trip, when a young boy told us he didn’t feel loved at home but he felt loved at Outdoor School.
My journey in experiential education deepened leading with ORION and enrolling in Block Semester in the spring of 2011. In Block, not only did I learn the foundational skills to launch me into my unexpected dream career of outdoor education, but I also found connection like I had never experienced in my classmates and teachers. Block was one of my first transformative experiences in the power of the joining forces of community, nature, and discovery.
Since then, I have spent the past 15 years dedicated to outdoor education, guiding teens on service leadership trips domestically and abroad, teaching through organic gardening, and spending years honing facilitation and community building skills with Merrowvista in New Hampshire (where I was also able to host subsequent classes of SEED Semester – full circle, how cool!)
Seeing people connected to nature, their own strengths, and community is one of my favorite things. Thank you Shaver’s Creek for being the start of it all.