Friends Outdoors Reviving Earth Skills Together, also known as FOREST, is Whole Earth Nature School’s teen nature mentorship program. FOREST is a student-driven initiative designed for kids who are dedicated to deepening their nature skills. The goal of FOREST is to build strong self-esteem, deepen student’s nature and survival skills, and nurture their leadership abilities.
Our FOREST Understory series features a wide variety of skill-building experiences that fit into a student’s busy schedule.
Be sure to also checkout our flagship FOREST Mentorship program, a profound experience for middle- and high-school students that carries them throughout the school year with weekly mentoring meetings and epic monthly trips.
New School-Year program!
FOREST Understory: Foundations
Looking for a broad range of skills to set your child up for a lifetime of nature connection at home or in our other programs?
This 9-month immersive nature skills experience is the perfect chance for middle school students to fit nature connection into their busy schedule. One Saturday per month we focus the entire day on a unique skill that builds on the month before. Each session provides students with a take home project to continue working on between meetings.
We learn about some of the exciting basics of wilderness self-reliance and create a foundation of skills to continue to build upon, either at home, or in future programs.
Dates and corresponding skills/projects (subject to change):
October – Woodcraft: Carving and Whittling
November – Shelter, Axes and Saws
December – Fire making / Wildlife Tracking at Hendricks Park
January – Fire making / Wildlife Tracking at Hendricks Park
February – Rotation: Advanced Fire Skills OR Navigation
March – Rotation: Advanced Fire Skills OR Navigation
April – Wild Food, Medicine, and Water
May – Archery Bow Making & Natural Cordage
June – Leathercraft & Arrow Making
Grades: 7th-12th (split by age)
Time: 9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Dates: First Saturdays
Location: Mount Pisgah Arboretum and Wilkins Shelter, Hendricks Park
Cost: $675 for the 9 month program
FOREST Understory: Cutting Edge
Does your child just LOVE carving? Some teens could just carve all day. If so, this is the camp for them!
This 9-month immersive nature skills experience is the perfect chance for middle school students to fit nature connection into their busy schedule. One Saturday per month we focus the entire day on a unique skill that builds on the month before. Each session provides students with a take home project to continue working on between meetings.
The first half of the year will focus on advanced knife skills such as types of notches, whittling, and carving. In addition, every student will get to craft their own custom bushcraft knife! The second half of the year will focus on large sharp tools and include a big collaborative service project.
If you bring your own knives, they need to be a locking blade folding knife, or a fixed blade, as well as non-serrated. We’ll have fixed blade loaner knives available day of program.
Grades: 7th-12th, projects scaled by age/experience
Time: 9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Dates: Third Saturdays
Location: Mount Pisgah Arboretum
Cost: $675 for the 9 month program + Materials Fee
The Power of Community
The FOREST program nurtures true community where each member is known and valued for who they are. Our intention is to forge profound connections with peers, mentors, and the earth. We grow capable, confident leaders who work to expand their skills and push their personal comfort edges. These abilities and experiences will be a strong foundation for growth in all aspects of life. We build a community focused on the joys and challenges of engaging in authentic relationship with each other and with the land that sustains us. By building strong peer bonds in nature, FOREST students develop a support network to foster a lifetime of outdoor learning. FOREST is an amazing way to connect with the natural world in your very own community. We hope you join us!
Meet the Mentors
Our carefully chosen mentors for FOREST are:
- Veteran staff with years of experience
- Trained in Wilderness First Aid
- Practitioners of their specializations outside of Whole Earth
- Diverse in their teaching practices, for diverse students
- Passionate about helping young people transition to adulthood
The leaders of our FOREST program are the same instructors who train our new staff. Each mentor has a wide variety of outdoor skills that they practice as well as skills for working with people of all ages and abilities.
Whether a student is interested in nature writing, fire by friction, leatherwork, fishing, shelter building, whittling, or wildcrafting, we have a mentor with something to teach. They are also unique individuals who can relate to students over the latest radio hits, Dungeons & Dragons, video games, photography, athletics, and more.
