The Wild Within
Enrollment open for the 2026-27 Academic Year
It’s time to dive deeper!
We ground into ourselves, exploring the wilds of our own hearts and how we are connected to this beautiful world around us.
This forest mentorship program meets weekly at the Tryon Life Community Farm. Using the farm as a home base we explore the trails of Tryon Creek State Park.
We hone our wilderness awareness skills, beginning to see, hear, and feel the changing rhythms of the forest around us, and using that information to guide us as we learn ancestral bushcraft skills, examine PNW ecology, and build strong community.
Ages: 10-13
Thursdays
8:30 am to 4:00pm
What It’s All About
This program is built on five foundational pillars.
Cultivating Stillness and Deep Connection
Through daily sit spots and slow observation of our natural world, we begin to equate the stillness of our body with the unfolding wonders of the natural world. When we are still the wild comes near.
Building Community & Thoughtful Communication
We practice and model active listening and authentic, feelings and needs based communication. When we listen with our whole body, we get the gift of learning about what is alive in those around us. When we know others are listening in that way, it becomes easy to share what is alive in us.
Ancestral Skills As Connection to The Natural World
Each skill we acquire is done with the goal of deepening awareness of our interconnected relationship with the world around us. We learn how to harvest a plant and how to help it grow. We learn where the turtle likes to make it’s home by following it’s food source, and why the moss grows freely on one side of a tree. Each of these things leads us deeper into relationship with the non-human living world.
Discovering the Joy of Authentic Self-Expression
Whether through art, dance, sharing circle, or song we encourage the radical and authentic expression of what is in each of our wild hearts. Conversely we seek to recognize the strengths and beauty in each other daily– reveling in our diversity, celebrating our similarities.
Reverence, Reciprocity, & Respect
We approach the natural world and the people in it with a recognition of the sovereignty of all living things. We are all connected, and so we care for each other as if caring for ourselves. We leave berries on the bush so that other animals can eat. We say thank you to the willow when we harvest their branches to make baskets; and we help each other with the knowledge that, when we need it, they will help us in return.
Core Curriculum
Wilderness Awareness
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A place where the student can sit in silent observation of the natural world, expanding their senses to take in the changing of the seasons. This place helps us to cultivate a quiet mind and a direction for future inquiry.
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A place to catalogue and examine all that we see, hear, and feel. Often times it provides a starting point for sharing our story of the day or a means to reflect on change and predict new patterns.
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Throughout the year, we will practice our ability to move silently and wait patiently. Whether we are playing a stealthy game of camouflage hide and seek or holding perfectly still to get a better view of a bird, we are always practicing how to move and be still in just the right measure.
Ancestral Skills
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Throughout the year we will build our own field guide of plants, trees, and fungi. We will learn what will feed us, heal us, and harm us; and also how each of these plants plays a roll in the larger ecosystem.
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Through avid exploration, we will begin to build our own maps both within ourselves and on paper. We will learn how to use a compass and navigate using landmarks and nature signs.
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Tying knots, making fire starters, safe knife skills, building shelter, and basic first aid are all part of this category. We will also be learning the basics of tracking and trail following.
Community Building
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Each day we begin by exercising our ability to share and listen. In this safe container, we can process our inner feelings or share a silly experience and know that we are being truly seen.
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Through non-violent communication, we practice identifying our feelings and the needs behind them. We use reflective listening to better understand one another and begin to set and respect boundaries.
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We recognize all living things as having equal sovereignty. In doing so, we begin to give back to, care take, and advocate for abundant wild spaces. We begin to celebrate and honor our diversity as humans and the diversity around us. We become stronger as we interweave our community as one collective web.
Tuition & Enrollment
Enrollment for the academic year begins in April and is open on a rolling basis until full. A wait list will be made available to all interested families.
Tuition:
$335/ month
The supply fee for this program is $100.
FAQs
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Click on the “Apply Here” button above. This will lead you to an admissions page that will help guide you through the process.
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Our maximum teacher to student ratio for this course is 1:8. We will never have more than 8 students in this class. Occasionally, there may be a visiting teacher present, which will lower the class ratio to 1:4. We believe that small class sizes are the best environment for deep learning and deep relationships. We are committed to maintaining an intimate class size to better serve the students, teachers, and families.
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The Wild Within will be offered throughout the academic year.
Fall: Sept- Mid December
Winter: January-March
Spring: April-June
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Class will be held rain or shine! That being said, there may be some days where it is unsafe for us to be outside, such as extreme heat, thunderstorms, or days when the roads are unsafe to drive on. If this happens, we will do our best to schedule make up days for the course. If we are unable to do so, we will issue refunds in the form of future class credits for every day after the first missed class date.
