In the world of nature and education there are some pretty amazing people and groups out there devoted to fostering lifelong connections between children and the natural worlds around them. I recently came across a wonderful group in Vermont called The Crows Path. Started in 2009 as an outdoor education program for a small group of home school families it has since grown into a large community of nature enthusiasts that is now open to public school children as well.
After reading about their program and seeing some photos of the great things they are doing I contacted on of the founders Teage O'Connor who graciously agreed to give us in interview and an inside look into what The Crows Path and this type of education can offer.
Q: You talk about a relationship with mystery in your program description, what do you mean by that, and how is it explored through your programs?
A: The Crow is a guide for me and has showed up throughout my life offering deep lessons when I needed them most. The name Crow's Path is a play on Crow Pass, which is a hike in Alaska that my mom used to do with her friends. The hike is a treacherous 23 mile trek that goes up crumbly shale, across glaciers, and through icy rivers. All the husbands would meet the women at the end of their adventure with lots of food, smiles, hugs, and dry socks. I have fond memories of experiencing the importance of testing ones strength against the patience of nature and how essential it is to have a community to welcome you back from that journey.
Mystery is the same thing to me as the awareness of ecology. I used to jokingly put down ecology as my religion on standardized tests. But ecology, not as a science but as a level of consciousness, is an acceptance that all things are connected. It is an intuitive appreciation of "If I tug on this, it tugs on that and that and that and all things." The mystery element of that is the acceptance that we can never really know the extent of how our actions tug on everything else but also a call to explore that. For me the awareness is a serene sense of wonder and appreciation, like lying under a moonless sky full of stars and hearing a hum. It is the same hum that shakes through our camp when everyone is just doing exactly what they want to be doing - that village hum.
Q:What is the most important thing you have learned form the kids in the program?
A: The most important thing I have learned from the kids is that not all things and experiences are valuable or even essential to all people. As Crow's Path has grown over the past three years, we've been able to hire more staff. Each morning our group breaks into guilds that the kids get to choose from. Some kids just don't enjoy drawing, so rather than push this on them we allow them to choose where their curiosity will take them. One week this might be making baskets and the next it could be fire-by-friction. One of our kids is totally hooked on finding fossils, so each week he joins the Exploration Guild to spend as much time as he can in the river bed.
A: How do you see these learning experiences influence the kids as they transition from "chipmunks" to "red squirrels"? What does an outdoor education like The Crow's Path do for kids as they grow older?
Q: The ultimate aim of our youngest program ("Chipmunks") is to connect the kids to the land with the primary objective to let them have fun. They've got a whole life to focus in on particular skills, but if they don't start by having fun they won't want to be out with us each week, they'll never want to learn those skills. Once they've had fun, they get hooked and will want to do just about anything. We provide them with lots of small opportunities to grow into their adolescence. We do this by giving them small responsibilities. For example, we have an "ambassador" whenever a guest shows up. Our ambassador (one of the younger kids, 7-9 years old) greets them and gives them a tour of the land. We also encourage the other kids to teach the guest a new skill or share with them projects they're working on. This allows them to tell stories, to feel proud about the work and share their knowledge with someone older than them. At the end of the day we have a time set aside to telling stories.
They become increasingly connected to the land each week as well as to the other participants and the mentors. They can start the program as young as 6. By the time they're enterring adolescence we've been working with them for 6-7 years. We track their interests, their curiosity, their challenges, and their personality. We can use this to help them ascend into adolescence by connecting them with their community through a rite of passage (which is not part of our official programming, but happens on a needs basis, when we identify it necessary for a child and when we have the support of the child's parents).
Q: What is your favorite thing about nature? What is your favorite lesson so far?
A: My favorite thing about nature is its infinite patience and tolerance.
Q:How can someone start a program like The Crows Path in their area?
A: The biggest help for me in starting Crow's Path was linking up with elders that had started similar program a long time ago. I asked them to mentor me as I grew the program. I also have visited many other programs that I respect. Our pedagogy and approach is informed by the wonderful work of many many people doing similar work around the country.
Q: I read a lot about wooden spoons on your website. Why wooden spoons?
A: I started carving spoons four years ago and have made about 150 so far. When I think of spoons I think of warm soup, sitting around a fire with friends. I love that the wood I use holds its own story, the story of a tree that grew in a particular way and in a particular place. I read the lines of the tree before I carve it; each spoon becomes a dialog between my hands and the intricacies of the unique grain of each individual tree.
Q: We think your program is terrific, but give us your "elevator pitch" as to why programs like The Crow's Path are so important for today's youth... Go.
A: Programs like Crow's Path are essential for today's youth. Children need to first feel connected, rooted, and anchored to the place that they live in and the people and animals and plants they live with in order to define themselves. In adolescence they define themselves by the things around them. We provide a healing and healthy context, a supportive community, in which they can explore their identity. As they grow older, the experiences of their youth are the platform from which they can grow into themselves, finding meaning and strength from within. Long-term mentoring can facilitate this development.
Thank you Teage for taking the time to talk with us!
~Jordan
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