Nate and his OA Trek group 

In the summer of 2005 I realized that it would be the last summer that my son Walter would be eligible to be a participant in any of the Eagle’s Nest programs.  He was a junior in high school, had gone on multiple Hantes including Australia, AT Trek, Mexico and Costa Rica, attended The Outdoor Academy and had spent several sessions as a JC.  He had learned a tremendous amount about what it means to be a leader in camp and in the wilderness but he still wasn’t quite ready to take on a full counselor position.

Of course I started thinking – goodness, we have this wealth of energy and talent amongst our Eagle’s Nesters who are aging out of our programs – we need to help with their training so they can become our counselors!  That’s when the idea of WILD came to be, Wilderness Instructor Leadership Development.  Walter and 13 others participated in the inaugural course in the summer of 2006.   It was a remarkable group of students and most of them came back to work at Eagle’s Nest the next summer, highly trained as Wilderness First Responders and effective leaders of our campers.  Today, that same group is out in the world doing some amazing work.  Several are pursuing a PhD or MD, some their Masters Degrees, and one, Nate Sutton, is working right here at Eagle’s Nest training our next generation of leaders in his position of Hante and OA Wilderness Coordinator.

If you are graduating from high school this year and think that some day you would like to work as a camp counselor or lead trips for your outdoor group at college, I highly recommend you get in touch with us.   You can also learn more about Hante in our new Viewbook.  The WILD course at Eagle’s Nest is an excellent training ground and is led by some pretty amazing educators.  Hope to see you here this summer!