Less fear, more success EDUCATOR D EV ELOP S , D IREC TS L I F E - C H AN GI N G P RO GR AM S
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everly Capelin encourages others to find strength For some groups, this means working with the U.S. Forest amid the richness of nature and the power Service or the Bureau of Land Management to increase of teamwork, helping them enjoy a life with access to wilderness areas and restore sites impacted by less fear and more success. Capelin set these humans and weather. intentions long ago and continues to find ways For others, the service component focuses on crossto transform the lives of young people in our cultural exchange projects. Participants help members of communities and beyond. Navajo, Ute Mountain Ute, Hopi and Zuni tribes with tasks Capelin is an educator with a passion for guiding others like reconstructing traditional stone bread ovens, mending through obstacles and educational experiences. She moved fences, shearing sheep and painting and plastering buildings to Durango to attend Fort Lewis College and in ceremonial Hopi plazas. earned a bachelor’s degree in education. After In 1998, Capelin formed a nonprofit “We’re very graduating, Capelin taught elementary school to offer scholarships to young people group-oriented. participating in Deer Hill Expeditions. Through in Silverton and Dolores for seven years. During those years, she led service projects the Deer Hill Foundation, Capelin has helped Our philosophy for her third graders, such as picking up trash more than 1,000 underserved scholarship is if you’re a in alleys near the schools. Seeing children students participate in their expeditions. engaged and empowered through community Capelin has a pioneer’s spirit, unafraid of leader in a efforts was inspiring, she said. new ventures. When her daughter, Emily, program, then In 1984, she and her husband, Douglas, struggled to find a preschool program to left their teaching jobs and founded Deer enroll her own daughter, Capelin decided to you take the Hill Expeditions, a wilderness and cultural help her establish an alternative option for rear up and exchange program for teenagers. early childhood education in Mancos. Together, they built a basecamp on Capelin, her daughter and young Mancos help your friend their property in Mancos, and they formed parents formed an initial board of directors that is having partnerships with families and community to help them reach their goal. leaders in Southwest Colorado, including Several volunteers offered to provide trouble.” Native American tribes across the region. accounting services, write grants and develop Capelin said the cultural exchange projects a website. Classroom space was a primary borne out of these relationships were rooted in shared concern. After several failed attempts to find a suitable experience, connection and support. space, Capelin sectioned off 3 acres of land near the Deer “Most of our programs are from 21 to 24 days, so you Hill Expeditions basecamp and funded the creation of a have time to immerse, and every program is different,” new 2,000-square-foot preschool. Capelin said. “We make sure that the participants are truly In April 2019, contractors broke ground; by September, connected with the expedition from the beginning to end.” they opened the doors to Mancos Dragonfly Preschool. Over the past 35 years, Capelin has been involved from The preschool offers opportunities for children ages 2 beginning to end, formulating programs alongside field through 6 to develop a love for learning staff and an administrative team. through a Waldorf-inspired curriculum. The Programs focus on river experiences, school currently has 18 families enrolled and such as rafting, canoeing and will welcome more children in the spring. kayaking or take teenagers to the While she continues work with teenagers mountains for backpacking, rock at Deer Hill Expeditions, Capelin continually climbing, mountain biking and focuses on developing more fearless and canyoneering adventures. But all successful youths in the region. programs have a service component. “I’d like to make sure that Dragonfly Groups participate in conservation Preschool really maintains its strength,” and community service projects in Capelin said. “I want to make sure this partnership with other organizations. endeavor takes wing and flies.” l
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