The Living Earth School
| Address |
101 Rocky Bottom Ln Afton, Virginia 22920 |
| Phone | (434) 260-0086 |
| Website | https://livingearthva.org |
| Primary Contact | Hub Knott |
| Primary Email | connect@livingearthva.org |
| Executive Director | Adam 'Hub' Knott |
| Primary Focus Area | Education |
| Service Areas |
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Mission Statement
The Living Earth School is a nature-based educational organization, located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of central Virginia in the Charlottesville area. Our programs draw from both ancient and modern wisdom to help empower students to become better caretakers, mentors, and leaders.
Overview
At Living Earth School, we aim to teach a holistic balance of skills to help the students understand their place in the natural world, their role in the community, and finally a better awareness of their passion and vision for life. We use coyote mentoring in our nature-based approach to help people connect with their place and to deepen their relationships. Coyote encourages us to break out of old habits of awareness, and to see nature with fresh eyes. The mentor ideally guides from behind the scenes, opening up the edge-stretching curiosity of each person, and their fascination to learn more. Then the mentor can step out of the way, and let nature teach the rest. It aims to develop more passionate and alive human beings that are actively engaged with life. In time, mentoring uncovers the gifts of creativity and power that lie within each individual.
Key Programs
| Program 1 | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Summer Camp |
| Description: | Summer Day and Overnight camps are a unique opportunity for children to truly connect with nature in a safe, nurturing environment. |
| Examples of Program Success: | Past campers have written their college entrance essays on how transformative our programs have been in their lives, their growth, and connection to nature and community. |
| Total Program Budget: | $300,000 |
| Category: | Education, Mentoring, Personal Growth and Development |
| Program 2 | |
|---|---|
| Title: | L.E.A.F - Living Earth Adult Foundations |
| Description: | Living Earth Adult Foundations—LEAF—is an invitation to remember the most vibrant parts of yourself. For one weekend a month, you have a chance to disconnect from phones and to-do lists, and reconnect to the peace of staring into a fire, the rejuvenation of sleeping under the stars, the inspiration of learning the plants you can eat on the landscape, the joy of laughing and learning with a community of like-minded people. Our mission is to bring nature connection into your life in a powerful way. We explore skills that build competence and confidence, expand awareness, and create a thriving community of passionate students of life and the natural world. |
| Examples of Program Success: | Graduates say that LEAF has made them more resilient in the face of life’s struggles and sorrows. They say it gave them the courage to make big life changes. They say it helped them feel more at home in their own backyards and more comfortable exploring wild places. Nature connection practices can empower us to feel more grounded and potent in our lives, or as Ryan Eliason says “to become an unstoppable force for good.” |
| Total Program Budget: | $30,000 |
| Category: | Education, Mentoring, Personal Growth and Development |
| Program 3 | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Teen Apprentice Program |
| Description: | What happens when teens give their full selves, learning together skills for survival and awareness? They learn these values: building a strong, small community; leadership by example; treating everyone as equals; sharing as a way of being; having only what is needed to live; adventure as a way of life; the ability to be still and alone, as well as the ability to thrive as a group. |
| Examples of Program Success: | Current classes are full capacity, with a waiting list of hopeful participants. Parents report that the participant teens are more confident, helpful at home, responsible, resilient and happy. Connected and grounded with reality is a phrase we often hear from parents about there teens. |
| Total Program Budget: | $30,000 |
| Category: | Education, Mentoring, Personal Growth and Development, survival skills |
| Program 4 | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Home School Nature Education program |
| Description: | The outdoor classroom experience makes learning real and the direct experience of seeing and knowing things firsthand, takes learning to a whole new level. Students learn about the seasons directly, gain skills in knowing what it means to live connected to the land around them, harvest tasty fall wild edibles, shoot an arrow, make fire by rubbing sticks, track animals, build and make things with their own hands all while being part of a vital community. This is an opportunity for homeschoolers to come together in a community setting and learn about the natural world, themselves, and each other, through earth-based mentoring. |
| Examples of Program Success: | Parents report back the children are engaged with their environment, nature and their curiosity and desire to learn more is ignited and self motivated. These programs are at capacity and have a waiting list of participants. |
| Total Program Budget: | $160,000 |
| Category: | Education, Mentoring, Personal Growth and Development, Survival skills |