Art of Mentoring

An inter-generational, nature based, annual gathering of renewal

2016 Dates TBA
Sandpoint, Idaho

Deep in all of our roots, there are stories of our ancestors living in healthy, regenerative communities — villages where people of all ages were in deep relationship with the land, each other, and themselves. The Art of Mentoring is a six day, experiential, nature based set of concurrent programs for ages 3 - 103 designed to help us remember these old ways and learn to apply them to our modern communities.

Yes, it takes a Village to raise a child. It also takes a Village to:

• Engage the gifts of our elders
• Create essential rites of passage for our teens
• Ensure parents are supported and thriving
• Welcome our babies into a world of open arms
• Feel deep compassion and gratitude for All of Our Relations
• Understand your gifts and how to apply them in service to the people

This workshop is one of several Art of Mentoring workshops currently being offered around the world. We bring together a team of experienced leaders and facilitators from around our bioregion and beyond to staff six concurrent programs that will co-create a joyful, engaged learning community. You will walk away with tools and embodied practices of regenerative community design, mentoring techniques, deep nature connection, and an amplified passion for learning. Our hope is to activate and inspire you to create healthy nature connected communities right in your own back yard!

This workshop is for parents, mentors, kids, preschoolers, teens, grandparents, aunties, uncles, instructors, teachers, environmental educators, community organizers, permaculturists, and many more. This is really for anyone who wants to deepen your relationships with nature, family, friends and neighbors, and deeply enrich your life.

The skills and practices that you will experience and learn to apply at the Art of Mentoring have been incorporated in a variety of settings including public and private schools, universities, permaculture organizations, at-risk youth programs, businesses, mental health practices, legal and prison system as well as in families, neighborhoods, and the growing network of 300+ wilderness schools & deep nature connection mentoring organizations across the globe.

This is an inter-generational, family friendly event! Creating a village where all ages are welcome, supported, and growing together is an important element to the Art of Mentoring culture. In that spirit, there are a variety of programs for preschoolers, youth, teens, and adults all running concurrently that together build an inter-generational village, woven together by nature, music, and artful mentoring.

Program Options

• The Art of Mentoring - for Adult first time participants
• AoM Nature Immersion Experience - for Adult returning participants
• AoM Youth Programs - for Preschoolers ages 3 - 6 and Kids ages 6 - 13
• AoM Teen Rendezvous - for Teens ages 13 - 18

The Art of Mentoring - for Adult first time participants

First time adult participants at the Art of Mentoring (the "Ring 1" Program) experience an immersion into creating a living culture of awareness and connection. You will receive experiences, tools, practices, and the framework that will deepen your relationships and allow you to create a powerful culture of nature connection in all aspects of your life and community as you draw inspiration from nature.

In this six day course you will receive an experiential introduction to the 8 Shields nature based map for healthy culture, community building, and learning. This workshop draws on approaches from modern education, indigenous wisdom, ecological patterns, and principles observed in nature. The experience awakens new possibilities and provides clear, specific ways of moving forward into a conscious future.

Guided by a team of experienced facilitators from across the country, the Art of Mentoring includes personal and group experiential activities, lectures, storytelling, music, and more. We will be both indoors and outdoors exploring:

• Cultural & Coyote Mentoring
• The Art of Questioning
• Naturalist Training
• Sensory Awareness Training
• Bird Language
• Inspirational Storytelling
• Singing
• Creative arts
• Ceremony
• Inner Tracking
• Exposure to Primitive Skills & Wildlife Tracking
• Community Building
• Discussion & Reflection

Topics covered are as varied as child's passions, essential elements of effective nature education, gender and inter-generational healing, and grief tending in community. Throughout the week we will build an inter-generational village, woven together by nature, music and artful mentoring.

Art of Mentoring Lead Presenters & Facilitators currently projected:

• Jon Young (8 Shields Institute)
• Mark Morey (Institute for Natural Learning)
• Jeannine Tidwell (Twin Eagles Wilderness School)
• Tim Corcoran (Twin Eagles Wilderness School)
• Barry Moses (Twin Eagles Wilderness School)

Art of Mentoring Small Group Facilitators currently projected:

• TBA

Art of Mentoring Lead Cook currently projected:

• TBA

Click Here for Registration Info

AoM Nature Immersion Experience - for Adult returning participants

Going Deep with the Core Routines

Now that you've been introduced to the Art of Mentoring and inspired by stories of Deep Nature Connection and Core Routines, we invite you on a "Ring 2" journey of immersing in nature connection with a group of other adults.

You'll be guided and inspired by experienced staff on your nature connection journey throughout the week with activities like animal tracking, wild edible & medicinal plants, primitive skills, native crafts, bird language, and more. You'll also have an opportunity to share your experiences with first time participants and take them on a journey into nature connection which will deepen your capacity to apply the Art of Mentoring.

Pre-requisite: Attendance as a first time participant at an Art of Mentoring workshop (Here at Twin Eagles or at another affiliated Art of Mentoring workshop in California, Vermont, Wilderness Awareness School, United Kingdom, or Ontario).

AoM Nature Immersion Experience Lead Facilitator currently projected:

• TBA

Click Here for Registration Info

AoM Youth Programs - for Preschoolers ages 3 - 6 and Kids ages 6 - 13

The AoM Youth Programs include an AoM Preschool Program for ages 3 - 6 and an AoM Youth Program for Kids ages 6 - 13. These programs make it possible for the whole family to attend the Art of Mentoring and are a critical part of the living culture of awareness. The children add the spark of playfulness as they connect with workshop participants at mealtimes and the evenings. Participants also get to witness mentoring in action with children as the kids explore, imagine, and play outside with the guidance of a regional network of instructors. The children in turn have an enlivened experience of what it might be like to live in a village surrounded by a whole community looking out for them.

The AoM Youth Programs include sensory awareness games & activities, earth living skills, native scout skills, nature based arts & crafts, music, storytelling, and getting to know the natural world through "native eyes." Kids will be encouraged to play and follow their passions and curiosity, with gentle guidance and lots of inspiration from our trained mentors.

The format of these AoM Youth Programs is similar to a day camp running from Tuesday morning through Saturday morning, starting around 9 am and ending around 3 pm (1 pm for preschoolers), with some additional storytelling sessions happening during a few of the evenings after dinner. The AoM Youth Programs make it possible for parents to participate in most workshop activities. However, there are some limitations you need to be aware of. Parents must supervise their children at all meal times as well as during the evening through bedtime. For this reason, at least one parent will not be able to participate when evening workshop sessions are scheduled.

There is an option to bring a designated Caregiver for your child. Adult Caregivers are welcome to come with the younger children with the understanding that their focus is care of the child(ren) and supporting the parent attending one of the adult workshops. Caregivers should not have an expectation to participate in the adult workshops. That said, scattered throughout the week are events inclusive of everyone present, young and old. The Adult Caregiver fee covers housing and meals.

AoM Preschooler Program (ages 3 - 6) Lead Instructor currently projected:

• TBA

AoM Youth Program (ages 6 - 13) Lead Instructor currently projected:

• TBA

AoM Youth Program (ages 6 - 13) Assistant Instructor currently projected:

• TBA

AoM Youth Programs Coordinator currently projected:

• TBA

Click Here for Registration Info

AoM Teen Rendezvous - for Teens ages 13 - 18

The AoM Teen Rendezvous is designed to immerse teens in wilderness living, outdoor adventure, and a culture of nature based mentoring. It is open to teens who are hungry to be intensively mentored in deep nature connection, and wish to connect with peers from all over the Inland Northwest to affirm their love of being in nature. Guided by a team of experienced deep nature connection mentors, the teens will connect deeply to the natural world, their peers, and themselves through daily activities such as sleeping outside, primitive skills, wildlife tracking, wild edible & medicinal plants, awareness games, native scout skills, team building, bird language, and more.

The format of the AoM Teen Rendezvous is similar to an overnight camp running the entire duration of the Art of Mentoring. The AoM Teen Rendezvous makes it possible for the whole family to attend the Art of Mentoring, as parents will be able to experience the workshop in its entirety.

Enriching the experience and making it more than "overnight camp," the AoM Teen Rendezvous will have connections with a community of elders, aunts, uncles, and youth all connected with the Art of Mentoring. This will be a powerful experience, as each teen is experiencing aspects of a living intergenerational nature based village. The teens will play an important role in bringing the stories of the landscape back to the community at large. They will leave with an embodied experience of what it might be like to live in a village surrounded by a whole community looking out for them.

AoM Teen Rendezvous Lead Instructor currently projected:

• TBA

AoM Youth Programs Coordinator currently projected:

• TBA

Registration

Pricing:

• The Art of Mentoring - for Adult first time participants - $695
• AoM Nature Immersion Experience - for Adult returning participants - $695
• Adult Caregiver not participating in the workshop, just caring for a child - $230
• AoM Youth Programs - for Preschoolers ages 3 - 6 and Kids ages 6 - 13 - $230
• AoM Teen Rendezvous - for Teens ages 13 - 18 - $375

All prices include food and accommodations.

Discounts and Scholarships

Please note that discounts (which include early bird discounts, group discounts, and other discounts) may not be combined, each participant may receive at most one discount. One discount may be combined with a scholarship.

• Early Bird Discount: Save $50 on any adult program option (except Adult Caregiver) by enrolling before TBA!

• Group Discounts are available. Each group must have a group coordinator who communicates with Twin Eagles Wilderness School ahead of time. All application packets must be sent in together by the group coordinator, along with a single check that covers the full amount of the group's tuition.

  • Group Discount if enrolling with 2 to 5 people, save $50 per adult
  • Group Discount if enrolling with 6 - 10 people, save $75 per adult
  • Group Discount if enrolling with 11 or more people, save $100 per adult

  Please note that these savings only apply to adults, except adult caregivers. The adult caregiver price and all youth program prices have already been lowered to an absolute minimum in order to encourage participation. Youth and adult caregivers do count in the group count, but their pricing stays the same. Other restrictions apply. Contact us for more information before applying for a group rate.

  Registration Deadline for Group Discounts is two weeks prior to the start of the Art of Mentoring, TBA.

• Scholarships are available. Please click here for more information on scholarships

To Apply

Registration has not yet begun for the 2016 Art of Mentoring.

Have more questions about the Art of Mentoring? Feel free to contact us.