Art of Mentoring
Santa Cruz Mountains, California August 2012 (Dates TBA)
~ Registration opens Spring 2012
Facilitators: Jon Young, Mark Morey, Lauren Dalberth, Dave Hage.
Because it takes a Village…
*Are you a Returning Participant? Please see below for all new mentoring opportunities at this AOM.
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 week-long, experiential, nature based program 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
Guided by a team of experienced leaders and facilitators from around the world, Art of Mentoring participants come together to experience, learn from and 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 communities right in your own back yard!
The course is taught through group experiential activities, lectures, storytelling, and music. We will be both indoors and outside exploring in the field.
This is a Family Friendly Event! Creating a village where the whole family is welcome, supported and growing together is an important element to the Art of Mentoring culture. In that spirit, there are youth nature connection programs for children aged 4-12 and a teen program for youth ages 13-18. Both the teen program and the youth program run concurrently with the adult program, overlapping for most meals (read further for more information).
Opportunity for Returning Participants: This year we are offering a 2nd level experience in the Art of Mentoring for folks who have previously attended an Art of Mentoring. This “Ring 2″ experience will include staff guided nature connection and core routine activities deepening your capacity to guide others in nature connection and core routines. We have a limit of 20 in this program. Please contact the office (laurendalberth@gmail.com) if you would like more information.
Registration: Registration is Now Closed
Pricing:
Adult $850
Teen (13 + up) $525
Youth (9-12) $475
Kids (4-9) $450
Group Payment Options are available!!
Adult (Ring 2) $850 *If you are a returning Art of Mentoring participant and would like to participate in the Ring 2 Nature Connection Program, please contact laurendalberth@gmail.com. Returning participants may also join the regular Adult Art of Mentoring Program. Past Mind of Mentoring participants are encouraged to join the Regular Adult Program.
There are a limited number of cabins available on a first-come first serve basis. Once you have paid and registered, please email us at contact@8shields.org for cabin reservations & information.
Youth Program
The Youth Program for children 7-12 old and the Kid’s Program for 4-6 year-olds make it possible for the whole family to attend the Art of Mentoring and is a critical part of the living culture of awareness. The children add the spark of playfulness as they interact with workshop participants at mealtimes and the evenings. Participants also get to witness mentoring at work with children as the children 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 adults looking out for them.
The Youth & Kids’ programs include sensory awareness games and exercises, earth living skills, native scout skills, arts and crafts, music and storytelling, and getting to know the natural world through “native eyes.” Children learn these skills and knowledge through artful mentoring that taps into their passions and interests.
The format is similar to a day camp running from Sunday through Friday. The children’s program makes 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 early evening and bedtime. For this reason, at least one parent will not be able to participate when evening workshop sessions are scheduled.
For more information, please email contact@8shields.org.
Mountains to Sea Teen Rendezvous
The AOM Teen Program is designed to immerse teens in wilderness living and adventure. Guided by a team of experienced nature connection mentors, the teens will connect more deeply to the natural world, their peers and themselves through daily activities including primitive skills, tracking, awareness games, scout skills, team building, etc.
The week will culminate with a Mountains to Sea Rendezvous- an overnight backpack leaving from the Art of Mentoring base camp and heading out from the mountains to the sea and back again.
Enriching the experience and making it more than “overnight camp,” the Teen Program will have connections with a community of elders, aunts, uncles, and youth that have formed around the Art of Mentoring. The teens will leave with an embodied experience of what it might be like to live in a village surrounded by adults looking out for them. They will play an important role in bringing back the stories of the landscape to the village at large.
For more information, please email contact@8shields.org.
Participant Highlights:
“I am grateful for this whole beautiful week! I am feeling super inspired that:
a) this exists and there are so many incredible brilliant people involved, and
b) I can start integrating this stuff into our programs.”
“I saw the community work together effortlessly”
Comments on the Kid’s Program:
“Having the kids present amidst the village experience was great!”
“The kids’ program was fantastic!”
“We loved so much of it! The kids are full! inspired! and happy! I will always remember the meals, the singing and of course the coyote song!”
What Tools Participants Have Come Away With:
“I feel more supported in my path. Also I feel more assured that nature connection and people connection is doable in my home community”
“Much needed reminders and conceptually deepened understanding of cultural elements and vital community processes”
“The Cultural Elements. . . I love that there is essentially a roadmap to build culture/community”
