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'Fresh Tracks' - News & Updates

Clock Hours now available for Coyote Mentoring!

20 clock hours for teachers are now available for our Coyote Mentoring weekend course (choose April 25-27 or July 25-27, 2008) through the Puget Sound Educational Service District. Clock hours details

2008 Summer Camp Registration Open

Reserve a space now for our 2008 line-up of Summer Day Camps (ages 6-12), Advanced Day Camps (ages 10-12), Overnight Camps (ages 11-17), and Teen Wilderness Expeditions (ages 13-18). Camp Registration

On-line Registration for our Wilderness Courses

We have opened on-line registration for our Adult Wilderness Courses, Teen Wilderness Skills and Adventure Overnight Series, Teen Wilderness Backcountry Expeditions and Summer Camps.

Adult Intensive Wilderness Course Application Period Open

Help the “No Child Left Inside” movement become reality - The application period is open for the 2008 Earth Mentor Program - Our outdoor instructor course, 2008-2009 Residential Program - Our year-long wilderness course, and 2008-2009 Wildlife Tracking Intensive.

New 2008 Wilderness Course Information

Updated Adult Wilderness Course & Youth and Family Wilderness Course information is posted. More than just a survival school or only survival courses, learn the arts of wilderness survival skills and wildlife tracking and trailing, wild edible and medicinal plants, bird sounds and behaviors, mentoring youth and more...

Our Core Values

Wilderness Awareness School has officially adopted a Core Values Statement, and we'd like to share it with you. See our Core Values

A Memorial Tribute to Rocky Spencer

With great sadness, we learned of the tragic accidental death of our friend Rocky Spencer on Sept. 8, 2007. Rocky was a Wildlife Biologist and Carnivore Specialist with the WA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife since 1978. Many of us here at Wilderness Awareness School have met and known him over the years, and Rocky has done programs with us and served as a mentor for some of our staff and students. He was excited about the tracking work we do, and was a key part of creating Project CAT on the Eastside of the mountains. We'll miss this dedicated biologist and friend, whose most recent work involved helping Cougars and people coexist. (Read a Seattle Times article about his life and work)

We need your opinion!

Please join our email focus group Are you willing to help the School by lending your opinion once per month via email or on-line survey? We can use help with deciding which photos you like best, testing sample web pages, deciding what new courses to offer, etc. Perks included as a token of our thanks for your time... (more info or sign up)

The New Outdoor Education -
ENN feature with our staff and student!

A March 13, 2007 feature story on the Environmental News Network website on the new face of outdoor education featured comments from Wilderness Awareness School Program Director, John Chilkotowsky, and a student in our Community School, Emily Brodie! Read the article

On-line Video Available of our Panel Discussion: 'Raising Children with Connections to Nature'

Richard Louv's landmark 2005 book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder, continues to make waves among parents and educators who want to help reconnect the young people in their lives with the natural world.

We organized a very successful evening panel discussion on the topic on January 8, 2007 at Seattle REI with representatives from 7 leading local organizations. Now you can see an on-line video with highlights from the 2-hour program, or read more about what the standing-room-only crowd learned that night and access contact information for the organizations and presenters involved (details).

Do you or your kids have 'Nature Deficit Disorder'?

Author Richard Louv, in his book Last Child in the Woods coined the term "nature-deficit disorder” to describe the increasingly indoor and technologically-focused lifestyles of today's kids which is resulting in an unhealthy disconnection with the natural world for many children (and adults).

Our 2-minute on-line 'Tourist Test' with photos is a fun and easy way to help you determine if you have this common condition in our society (don't worry, we have a cure available)...

Wilderness Awareness School in the news!

In case you didn't catch the front page of the local section of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on January, 6, 2007, there was a feature article about Wilderness Awareness School and photos of Youth School!

This article helped spread the word about an important roundtable discussion we organized at Seattle REI. This discussion, Raising Children With Connections to Nature: Facing Nature Deficit Disorder, was attended by over 100 people and featured panelists from several leading local organizations. You can now see a 30-minute on-line video of highlights from that evening

What is Jon Young up to?

Wilderness Awareness School founder Jon Young still serves as a master teacher for some of our intensive courses, and at the Wilderness Awareness Residential Program.

Jon's current projects: Based in California, Jon also offers courses and classes independent of Wilderness Awareness School. We have created this web page as a resource for interested students to stay informed about what Jon is currently involved with. Visit Jon's website.