The Eagle Newsletter

EAGLE’S NEST CAMP

THE OUTDOOR ACADEMY

HANTE ADVENTURES

The Eagle The Eagle’s Nest Foundation Newsletter

GROWING – In Character,

SPRING 2018

In Our Connectedness to the Land, In Our Future

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE Foundations of Home Grown Sustainers Adventures Moral Reasoning Craft of the Wheel for Every Age p.2 p.5 p.6 p.8

EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE, PROMOTING THE NATURAL WORLD AND THE BETTERMENT OF HUMAN CHARACTER

Foundations of Moral Reasoning: Moral Philosophy Comes to The Outdoor Academy

By Roger Herbert, OA Director

When I woke up this morning I had to make some decisions.

What will I have for breakfast? Which shirt best fits my mood today? Should I listen to music on my drive to work or do I dare tune into the news?

I wonder how many choices we make over the course of a day.

Hundreds? Thousands? Most of our choices, like those I made this morning, are routine. The fact that I chose cold cereal with blueberries, a red flannel shirt, and NPR has little bearing on the lives of others (although I’m sure several people admired my shirt) and will soon be forgotten, even by me.

Sometimes, however, we are confronted with choices that do not feel at all routine. They are choices with moral content (“moral choices” for short). When confronted with moral choices, we feel it viscerally more than we comprehend it intellectually. We become anxious. We feel butterflies in our stomach. One philosopher describes the transition from the realm of routine choice to the realm of moral choice as crossing a “moral thermocline.” Like a physical thermocline, we can’t see it, but we sure know when we’ve crossed it.* There are two primary qualities that distinguish a moral choice from a routine choice. First, a decision has moral implications if the outcome of that choice has the potential of affecting the lives of other beings, for good or harm.

Second, we recognize that we’ve crossed the moral thermocline when our decision calls upon us to commit to (or not) widely held values like justice, honesty, or mercy. If, for example, I’m sitting with my friend and someone places a platter full of cookies in front of us, my decision to enjoy a cookie (or not) is routine. It contains no moral content. If however there is only one cookie on the platter, then I’ve crossed the moral thermocline. If I choose to eat the sole cookie, I do my friend some degree of harm, however slight: I deny her the pleasure of a yummy cookie. I have also called into question my commitment to widely held values such as generosity, empathy, and kindness.

This, of course, is a low stakes and somewhat silly example.

But it’s easy enough to think of examples of moral choices

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that our teens regularly encounter that are quite serious and can result in life-changing consequences. Do I break my promise to a friend not to “tell on her” even though her actions are egregious or dangerous? Do I cheat on a major exam if a good grade will assure my acceptance to the college of my dreams? Do I stand up to the popular bully and risk my own social status?

Starting with Semester 43, The Outdoor Academy introduced a seminar built around questions like these. The goal of our new seminar, “The Foundations of Moral Reasoning,” is to construct, over the course of seven meetings, a framework for moral reasoning that our students can apply in their daily lives. For our first meeting, we discuss what I’ve outlined above: how to distinguish a routine choice from a choice with moral content. What does it mean to cross the moral thermocline?

Next we turn to the two types of moral choice suggested by philosopher Rushworth Kidder in his 1995 book, How Good People Make Tough Choices. In the second meeting of our seminar we consider the first type: a “right vs. wrong” choice.

Kidder suggests three signposts: if our options involve a violation of a law, a violation of a societal norm, or a violation of the truth, then we should be alert to the fact that we may be facing a right vs. wrong choice and should, therefore, choose the option that does not violate laws, norms, or the truth. I emphasize may and should here because caution is warranted; some celebrated acts of moral courage involved violations of laws, norms, and the truth. The U.S. civil rights movement is rife with heroic examples.

In our third meeting we consider how to respond when confronted with a right vs. wrong choice. Easy, right? Just do the right thing. Yet we all know that doesn’t always happen, even in our own lives. Making the “right” choice requires that we act with integrity. The third meeting of our seminar, therefore, dissects the overused and under theorized concept of integrity, and then personalizes it for each of our students (please see my blog of 31 January at https://www. enf.org/outdoor-academy-blog/).

*I regret that I don’t recall whom to credit for this wonderful analogy. If anyone can help, I’d be grateful. For now I’ll just say that it’s not original.

Plato and Aristotle, or Ted and Roger?!

(Detail from Raphael’s painting, The School of Athens. c.1509-1511.)

Roger and the students of Semester 46 engaged in a lively discussion of ethics and the “moral thermocline.”

Right vs. wrong decisions, what Kidder calls “moral temptations,” are interesting. But our seminar really gets juicy when we start talking about “right vs. right” choices, Kidder’s “moral dilemmas.” During the fourth meeting, we introduce the four types of right vs. right choices that Kidder theorizes. We can all think of times when we had to choose between justice and mercy, between individual goods and community goods, between short term and long term advantages, and between truth and loyalty, arguably the most vexing moral dilemma for most teens.

While we often feel alone when confronted with moral dilemmas, we are not. Human beings have been thinking about how to approach right vs. right choices for millennia.

The fifth meeting of our seminar introduces our students to four approaches to moral reasoning handed down to us from Plato, Aristotle, Kant, J. S. Mill, Kidder, Moses, the Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, and Coach Estock (my favorite football coach at Davidson). We approach moral choice through the lens of an ethics of consequences (“what choice does the most good or the least harm?”), an ethics of duty or rights (“what duties do I owe to others...whose rights am I violating or upholding?”), an ethics of virtue (“what would a virtuous

person do?”), and, finally, an ethics of empathy (“how would I want to be treated if roles were reversed?”).

During the sixth meeting, we dip our toes into applied ethics.

We leverage the tools we’ve explored in previous seminars to examine an ancient question: what are human rights? Do we have rights simply by virtue of the fact that we are human beings? If so, are they universal or do they apply only to democratic peoples? Do we have obligations to secure human rights in places and circumstances where they have been denied?

The seventh and final meeting of our seminar is our final exam. For the benefit of present and future OA students, I’ll say no more about this.

As I consider this new seminar, “The Foundations of Moral Reasoning,” I’m intrigued by the circular nature of just about everything in this world. I served as a naval officer for over 26 years. When I came to The Outdoor Academy in 2015, I brought with me—sometimes intentionally but typically not—moral lessons I had learned while serving in peacetime and in war. As some of you may know, I will be leaving The Continued on page 4

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Centennial Priorities Report: 2013-2018 Thank YOU for all you’ve helped us accomplish so far!

In our Centennial Plan, finalized in 2014, we committed to achieving several priorities by our 100th-year birthday in 2027. Since our community planning discussions in 2013, where we gathered in cities around the country, YOU have helped us accomplish so much. We continue to fully live into our mission and to respond to changes in the world around us, thanks to you.

Empowering Our Community of Educators • Major internal review (2015-2016) • Updating salary and evaluation structures for all staff

(2018)

• Foundation-wide inclusivity and equity evaluation (2018) • Last year, 79% of all expenditures at ENF went to

programming, including an increase in professional development funding

Sharing Our Story • Developed Alumni Council, regional gatherings and OA

Ambassador programs (2016) • Created Foundation Value Statement: Eagle’s Nest is a place where young people reveal and embrace their best selves through simple living, a deep connection to nature and living well in community (2016) • Completing ENF Advancement Plan for marketing and communications (2018)

Cultivating and Celebrating Our Place • Protected 143 acres of ENF property under a

Conservation Easement (2016); drafting additional sustainability plans.

• Modernized tribal system (2016) • Implemented green cleaning procedures; reviewing food and product sourcing and waste management • Designing and fundraising for new offices and staff housing building projects

Building Financial Resiliency • Improved financial planning: ENF Financial Resiliency

Plan (2016)

• Paid off $346,000 debt with Clean Water Management

Trust Fund grant (2016) • Enhanced fundraising strategy (2017)

Moral Reasoning continued

Outdoor Academy in July to begin teaching at the US Naval Academy. As I return to the Navy (as a civilian employee this time), I’ll be bringing with me moral lessons I’ve drawn from my three years of service as Director of The Outdoor Academy. Chief among these is a framework for moral reasoning that has evolved from countless hours of discussion with OA faculty and staff, and, primarily, from my rich intellectual exchanges with OA students in the context of this seminar, during long days on the trail, and in the daily routine of community life. In other words, students from the Naval Academy—future Navy and Marine Corps officers— will soon enter into an indirect discourse with students from The Outdoor Academy.

Pretty cool when you think about it.

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Executive Director’s Note: In July of this year, Roger Herbert will step down as the Director of The Outdoor Academy and begin his new post as the General Robert T. Herres Distinguished Military Professor of Ethics and Leadership at the US Naval Academy. The Ethics and Leadership curriculum he developed for The Outdoor Academy, among many other accomplishments, has placed our school at the forefront of educational organizations known for instilling in young people the skills necessary for ethical decision making and assuming leadership in one of its many forms.

We will be forever grateful to Roger for his deep commitment to students, faculty and our organization and we are thankful to know he will be continuing this very important work with yet more students.

Eagle’s Nest’s Sustainability Initiative Expands with New Home Grown Craft Class

By Bella Smiga, Garden Manager Fresh greens are popping up in the garden!

Sustainability is a term thrown around a lot these days. What exactly is it that we want to sustain? Sustainability, as a definition, entails a process that can recur over and over again without creating waste. So when we talk about sustainability, we must take into account all pillars of society and understand the environmental, social, and economic impacts of our actions.

Unfortunately, it has become apparent in present day society that our current practices involving industrialized agriculture, fast-food consumption, and screen addictions are not sustainable. These components of modern humanity degrade the planet we live on, as well as our physical and mental health.

So what does this have to do with the garden? Everything.

The garden is a place where we can relearn where our food comes from and how to nourish our bodies; to hold ourselves accountable for living in a more self-sufficient manner; to play in the dirt, to welcome crawling, hopping, slithering and flying species; to work, learn, and play together in the rain or shine.

The Outdoor Academy’s new arts class, called Home Grown Craft, offers students an opportunity to learn how to plant seeds and tend to a small garden plot over the course of the semester. Students will learn about natural pest management, proper watering and weeding techniques, and of course, will get to harvest delicious and healthy food straight from the ground from seeds they planted. Students will learn how to make pickles and jam and to dehydrate food to take Zippy radishes herald springtime.

out on wilderness trips. Students will also learn how to make herbal teas and medicinal syrups, and to mitigate seasonal poison ivy and bee stings, by making soothing salves all from plants that grow within the garden.

In this interactive class, we try to remember what it feels like to make food and medicine from scratch; preferably from our garden and the local forests and valleys. We learn about the histories and relationships plants and animals have with each other and with us. A recent and fun project we worked on was learning how to make real marshmallows. Not the kind packed full of high fructose corn syrup and empty calories, but the original medicinal confection that has been used for thousands of years since the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. The mallow plant is found in marshes stretching from northern Africa, to Europe and Asia. Its high mucilage content soothes coughs, sore throats, and dry cracked skin; a timely mid-winter class project. The French popularized marshmallows as a candy treat in the 1800s, which has led to the familiar campfire indulgences we love today.

Enjoy and Happy Gardening!

HOMEMADE MARSHMALLOW RECIPE 2 egg whites 1 tsp vanilla

½ cup raw cane sugar 1 Tbsp marshmallow root powder

• Whip egg whites until almost stiff and add vanilla • Whip until egg whites form stiff peaks • Whip in sugar 1 tablespoon at a time • Add marshmallow root powder, and whip again • Place marshmallow “goo” by teaspoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet.

• Bake at 350 degrees for 15-30 minutes (feel free to experiment with the timing to get desired consistency)

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DONOR SPOTLIGHT: Diane Ulmer

MSW, LCSW, ENF Trustee, Assistant Principal Denver Public Schools Interviewed By Cara Varney, Development Director

Diane Ulmer was first introduced to Eagle’s Nest while attending Clemson University and studying Outdoor Recreation.

For her, arriving at camp was “love at first sight!” From directing the paddling program in camp, leading various Hante adventures to now serving on the ENF Board of Trustees, she is deeply rooted at 43 Hart Road. We sat down to chat about her experiences and love for this place we all hold dear.

Cara: Tell us about yourself!

Diane: Currently, I live in Denver, Colorado, with my fiancée, Jess, and our adorable dog, Harley. I am an Assistant Principal in a district-managed public school and I enjoy my profession immensely.

Really, I feel like I never left Eagle’s Nest. I had the summers off and was able to come back to camp for a few sessions or to lead a Hante, and as a trustee, my role in the organization has evolved but I still come “home” every year!

C: What was your favorite part of the Eagle’s Nest experience?

D: The best part is the community of people and the ability to form an instant bond with anyone you meet who has a connection to Eagle’s Nest. Even if you don’t know that person, you know something incredibly intimate about them and you share a common experience. I love the profound and lasting relationships that are formed. You can go years without seeing or talking to a person, then pick up right where you left off—all because of the deep connections made while at ENF. C: Why do you think residential camp/outdoor school is an important experience for young people?

D: These experiences teach us to connect with each other as social beings, which is an incredibly important function in society. Experiential education instills a “sense of place” and a connection to the natural world that ultimately develops healthy habits of being active and interfacing with a group for a larger purpose. I also think these experiences focus on teaching to the “whole child” which is hard to find in traditional programs/schools.

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The adventurers of Hante Waterways! (Diane is top row, 3rd from right)

C: What do you wish other people knew about ENF? D: Eagle’s Nest is a place that truly strives for inclusivity, which is different from simply “being diverse.” We explicitly teach young people how to embrace their own strengths and those of others through meaningful dialogue. This is important because we are not focusing on the differences between individuals but rather creating a culture and the conditions to foster inclusivity within the community.

C: You have planned a legacy gift to Eagle’s Nest and joined our Sustainers of the Wheel. What inspired you and why have you decided to include us in your estate plans?

D: This option allows me to not only provide for my family but to leave a lasting legacy for the future as well. I wish I could contribute more right now, but by including Eagle’s Nest in my estate plans, I have the flexibility to reserve a bigger gift after I can no longer be a part of this community.

Honestly, it never occurred to me how easy it is to make a planned gift. I simply called my financial planner one day and designated a percentage of my retirement plan to Eagle’s Nest upon my death.

If you would like to learn about how YOU can join Diane and others as a “Sustainer of the Wheel,” or if you have already included Eagle’s Nest in your estate plans, please contact Cara Varney in the Development office for more information! cara@enf.org

Let Us Be Grateful…

What a year we had at Eagle’s Nest! As we celebrated 90 years of camping, you (our friends, alumni, and donors) were there every step of the way.

“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”

– Marcel Proust We all have so much to be thankful for at Eagle’s Nest, and we are endlessly grateful to those who support our programs and scholarships. This past year the Annual Fund surpassed its goal, all because of the generosity of donors, friends, and alumni. Even though we made huge strides in fundraising last year, we still have some rather large gaps to bridge. In 2017, we received over $755,000 in scholarship applications and we were able to grant $522,665. We believe deeply in the value of the educational experiences that Eagle’s Nest provides and we strive to make our programs accessible to campers and students for whom tuition costs may be out of reach. While we were not able to meet all requests we met many. Overall,

19% of our campers and 53% of our OA students were awarded scholarships.

The gifts you make to Eagle’s Nest reflect the spirit of community found in Pisgah Forest, a spirit that is forever ingrained in YOU. In this spirit lives a lifelong commitment and dedication to experiential education and the betterment of human character. By giving back to Eagle’s Nest, you are in turn continuing the cultivation of our mission beyond the branches of the Nest; this is truly a gift that keeps on giving.

When you think back on your summer at Camp or your semester at OA, we hope you remember the people and spaces that defined those experiences. While the connections you made may change or evolve over time, the spaces you so loved continue to weather the storms and nurture the young people who come here to live simply and find their best selves.

We encourage you to check out the 2017 Annual Report online; here you will find YOUR name and the names of your friends and family, as well as a peek into the incredible efforts that go into making a year at Eagle’s Nest a reality!

Love and Gratitude from the ENF Development Team, Cara and Michelle

2017: YOU HELPED RAISE $320,382

39%

Unrestricted

40%

Scholarships

7%

Program

99

of total $111,215 funded by donors

Endowed/Restricted

29

Students granted aid

Campers granted aid

Camperships: $31,800

14%

Scholarships: $139,040 of total $411,450 funded by donors

33% of all Scholarships are funded by donors THANK YOU friends!

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Adventures for Every Age: Growing Up at Eagle’s Nest Camp

By Anna Lauria, Camp Program Manager Campers celebrating success after a ROX class climbing excursion!

Here at Eagle’s Nest Camp, our programs are designed to grow and mature with our campers. Their progression is reflected in and challenged by new opportunities and responsibilities. We know that children will have experiences, connections, and impactful moments throughout their lives. Our program meets children needs as they grow by enabling them to start camp at a young age, graduate to longer sessions, advance within their classes, assume more community responsibilities, participate in an Added Adventure and Hante Adventure, and then complete their experience as a Junior Counselor.

Entering camp at a young age is a great way for campers to embrace a sense of independence within a structured environment. This prepares a child to be fearless when confronted with new experiences in life. We have 1, 2, and 3 week sessions so that campers can increase the length of time they spend at camp, thereby providing them with the freedom to set their own pace in skill development.

All campers are given opportunities to advance within their classes as well as transition to harder classes such as advanced paddling and rock climbing, stained glass, x-craft, ironwood, and more as they age. By improving tangible skills, campers enjoy a sense of personal accomplishment that boosts campers’ confidence in their ability to approach challenges in life outside of camp.

One of my favorite things about Eagle’s Nest is the community we create here every day. It offers the opportunity for all members to contribute. Through the rewarding experience of community service, campers of all ages discover the joys of helping others. They begin this journey with table setting and sweeping, and then move up to

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Eagle’s Nest provides room for growth. Added Adventures and Hante gave me the opportunity to spend time off campus while still being a participant. I learned skills and values while immersed in the field.

As a JC, I was able to learn in a leadership role and see more of what goes on in the background. If I could change anything, I would do more Hantes! – Noah LeFevre (Alumnus of Camp, Added Adventure, Hante Adventure, and Junior Counselor programs) washing dishes and mentoring younger campers. Campers strengthen their bond with the community by putting work and effort into meaningful tasks.

At Eagle’s Nest Camp, young campers can enter our community and learn to love being outside through classes like Explorers Club, Nature Lore, and Rock Climbing. In these classes and on cabin campout, they learn basic outdoor skills, such as fire and tarp building, and connect with nature.

Once in middle school, they can go on an Added Adventure where they apply these skills and experience evolving group dynamics for an entire week away from camp. On Hante, teens are introduced to leadership in a small, safe group that allows them to experiment with communication and decision-making. Culminating their experience, participants can apply to be Junior Counselors where they adapt their new leadership skills to a camp environment with more responsibilities and, by extension, more growth.

No matter where a child is in their journey, Eagle’s Nest has a program and adventure that will challenge and help them discover joy in the outdoors. Find your next adventure with us today!

COMING FULL CIRCLE Glenn with wife, Julia, and son, Elem.

By Glenn DeLaney, Incoming OA Director

As a child, I escaped the Florida heat and spent summers in Western North Carolina at Camp Pinnacle, first as a camper and later as a counselor during college. As an eight-year-old, camp represented a respite from the school year’s learning and a chance to run around, swim, holler, and bellow silly songs at the top of my lungs at the dinner table. “Boy Heaven,” my dad called it.

As a teenager, however, camp took on a different tone. I got serious about Pinnacle’s outings program, and I signed up for every climbing, backpacking, and mountain biking trip possible. I started becoming aware of Pisgah as something other than the place where the younger campers exaggerated the number of times we slid down Sliding Rock over ice cream at Dolly’s. I began to think of Pisgah as a classroom.

I am conferring on my thirteen-year-old self a degree of thoughtfulness that probably wasn’t present then, but I certainly intuited at the time that something powerful was occurring in me as I explored Pisgah’s crags and trails. I knew that I was learning in a totally new way, and it was exhilarating. Barreling down an exposed trail and catching air on a bike taught me about getting outside of my comfort zone. I began to think intentionally about asking for feedback when I struggled with a cruxy move on a climb at Looking Glass. I embraced persevering through challenges and honing new skills.

After college and a NOLS semester, I returned to Pisgah and took a job with a therapeutic wilderness program for teenagers. This was no summer camp, and the emotionally volatile environment forced me to rethink my approach to working with young people. It was here that I learned to help students observe, experiment, persevere, “fail forward,” and

Incoming OA Director, Glenn DeLaney

reflect in order to develop into resilient, growth-minded individuals.

After a decade of applying these lessons in traditional classrooms to help students learn with history instead of simply learning about history, I am thrilled to be joining the team at The Outdoor Academy. It is here that I have found a community that is capturing that same mountain magic that gripped me as a teen and is putting it to use to create an experience unlike any other.

Experiential education focuses the mind by emphasizing living in the moment, thereby allowing the learner to cultivate the seeds of ideas that might have otherwise been smothered by the teacher’s need to charge forward with the next chapter. The Outdoor Academy faculty encourage students to be curious and to tend to those ideas until they blossom. Outdoor experiences push them out of their comfort zones and promote self-reliance. Living in an authentic community in the dorm or on the trail fosters powerful relationships based on trust, respect, and gratitude. I truly believe that it is in this sort of academic space that our youth will grow the skills, confidence, and moral competencies that will prepare them to face the challenges we have sown for them. OA faculty don’t teach history, science, or math. They teach people. Instead of preparing them for tests, The Outdoor Academy is preparing our students for life.

Executive Director’s Note: We are very excited to welcome Glenn DeLaney as the next director for our school. Glenn will officially assume his post in June as he and Roger pass the torch, one educator to another.

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NEST CHATTER NEWS • Sophia Botran (Camp) recently earned her Girl Scout Gold

Oliver Joseph Anderson

Wilder Harris

MARRIAGES • Johan Taljaard (Camp, OA) and Becca Doll (Hante, OA),

September 30, 2017.

• Taylor Byrd (Camp, OA) and Jenny Martin, February 17, 2018.

• Sarah Candler (OA) and Ted McKenna, February 17, 2018.

BIRTHS

• Oliver Joseph Anderson to John (OA) and Johanna

Anderson, July 4, 2017.

• Casey Cohen to Jon Cohen (Camp) and Stephanie Roos, October 25, 2017. (ENF Trustee Jean Cohen is proud grandma!)

• Connor Robert Byrd to Nathan (Camp) and Steph Byrd, November 2, 2017. (ENF Trustee Cissy Byrd is another proud grandma!)

• Asher Freeman Harris and Rowe Wilder Harris to Josh and Katie Harris (OA), December 9, 2017.

PASSAGES • Asher Freeman Harris passed away on December 9, 2017.

Award, the highest and most prestigious award in Girl Scouts. She also founded and leads Miami Homeschool Rainbow Alliance, a homeschool club that brings together LGBTQAI+ and allies to support each other, provide a safe place to socialize and create a platform to fight for racial, gender, LGBTQ, and economic justice.

• Ariana DeToro-Forlenza (Camp, OA) opened her own

counseling practice in Asheville. She and her partner recently returned from a trip to Norway with their Future Nester, Genia Luna.

• Kimani Griffin (Camp) made his Olympic debut in February

at the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea, competing in the men’s 500-meter speedskating race.

• Jamey Lowdermilk (Camp, OA) finished law school in May

and is enjoying life as a law clerk in Greensboro. She and her sister, Ariel Lowdermilk (Camp, OA), got out for a hike in the Uwharrie National Forest this winter.

• Kevin MacDonald (Camp, OA) is the new Assistant Director of Program and Adventure Coordinator at Gwynn Valley.

• Allison Moore (Camp, OA) graduated in December from the University of North Florida with a degree in Elementary Education.

• This winter, past ENF kitchen manager, Michael Moore

(Camp, OA), opened a new restaurant, AUX Bar, in Asheville, NC. The restaurant and bar will also become the new headquarters of Mike’s successful Blind Pig Supper Club and Catering.

• Stine Ornes (OA) will attend Davidson College in Davidson, NC, this fall as a member of the class of 2022.

• Siblings, Caleb (Camp) and Micah Parsons (Camp, OA),

spent October to January biking from Copenhagen, Denmark, to Barcelona, Spain. Along the way, they visited eight different countries and traveled over 1,000 miles. You can see pictures from their adventure by checking out their Instagram @derailleur_hardlyknewher (a play on words of the sprocket and gear system found on a bike).

• Zoey Parsons (Camp, OA) and Will Betz (Camp, OA) were accepted to American University.

• Rebecca Sacks (Camp) and Caline McCarthy (Camp) just

ran the 26.2 with DONNA, The National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer in Jacksonville, Florida, on February 11, 2018.

• Katharine Wilkinson (OA) is currently Senior Writer at

OA and Camp alumni gather in Brooklyn for the New York Regional Alumni Gathering in January.

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Project Drawdown, where she collaborated with Paul Hawken on the New York Times best-seller Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, published last year. The book details the 100 most substantive climate solutions and, in so doing, paints a vision of what is possible. She shares, “I am on the road often to speak about our work. My hope is that Drawdown helps humanity see possibility and persevere in making it real.”

ALUMNI GATHERINGS AND EVENTS • On January 19th, our New York area alumni circled-up in

Brooklyn for an evening of music, merriment and sharing memories. Fifteen Camp and OA alumni, family and friends welcomed home a recent OA graduate, shared songs and stories, and learned more about the Fire Keepers recurring giving club at Eagle’s Nest. This group is planning more get-togethers and events throughout the year, including a potluck-style BBQ this summer; contact melissa@enf.org for more information or to join the mailing list.

ALUMNI EVENTS CALENDAR All alumni, families and friends of Camp, Hante, and The Outdoor Academy – mark your calendars!

March 21 Washington, DC: Capitol Nesters Alumni Gathering April 10 Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, NC: Triangle

Alumni Gathering May 24 Denver, CO: “Nest of the West” Alumni Gathering June 3 Washington, DC: Capitol Nesters Alumni & Family Potluck June 22 Asheville, NC: Alumni Gathering July 16 Brevard, NC: Making a Difference Monday at

Oskar Blues Brewery September 20 (or 27) Winston-Salem, NC: Triad Alumni Gathering October 19-21 OA Semester Leaders’ Council, ENC Reps,

and ENF Board of Trustees Retreat November 3 New Orleans, LA: Alumni Gathering TBA: Summer 2018 – Brooklyn, NY: Alumni & Family BBQ

Fall 2018 – Atlanta, GA: Alumni Gathering For details and to RSVP, stop by our website—www.enf.org/ calendar—and follow the event postings on the Eagle’s Nest Foundation Facebook page.

Bottom row of photos (from left to right): Sophia Botran earned the Girl Scout Gold Award Ariana DeToro-Forlenza (Camp, OA) with partner, Mark, and Future Nester, Genia, in Norway Siblings, Caleb (Camp) and Micah Parsons (Camp, OA) in Prague, Czech Republic Rebecca Sacks and Caline McCarthy Sisters, Ariel (Camp, OA) and Jamey Lowdermilk (Camp, OA), in the Uwharrie National Forest

Coming Soon to Your Inbox: The Character Education at Eagle’s Nest Survey!

The Eagle’s Nest mission statement is as bold as it is inspiring: “Experiential education for young people, promoting the natural world and the betterment of human character.”

How are we doing?

This year, you will receive a survey from Eagle’s Nest Foundation asking you to reflect on your involvement in Eagle’s Nest’s educational programs (Camp, Hante Adventures, and The Outdoor Academy) and how— and how well—these programs promote the betterment of human character. We’re hoping to identify areas in which we succeed as well as those in which we can improve as we work to consistently deliver this ambitious mission!

How you can help?

A survey of this nature works best when we receive responses from a large contingent of our community.

Please take a moment to make sure you’re receiving emails from Eagle’s Nest Foundation (enf@enf.org).

Encourage your family and friends to update their contact information with us (www.enf.org/alumni/ update-contact-info). For many alumni, the only email address we have on file belongs to a parent or guardian.

And, stay tuned to our Facebook, Instagram, and webpages—we will post an announcement when the survey goes out.

Thank you in advance for your support of this important project!

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BIG CHANGES ON OUR CAMPUS! By Noni Waite-Kucera, Executive Director After decades of residing in the middle of campus, our cobbled together maintenance shed is packing up and moving across the lake to the edge of the horse pasture, immediately adjacent to Everett Road.

In mid-January, a new 36’ x 80’ steel maintenance center arrived in dozens of pieces looking very much like a giant erector set plunked down and ready for an inspired builder. A week later, crews assembled the structure and it was ready for concrete and electrical work to be followed by landscaping and fencing. By the time camp opens for the summer, every nut, bolt, hammer, rake and power tool will all be moved

by Kyle and Taylor, the old shed will be demolished, and the area behind Cabin 6 and the Health Hut will be leveled and planted with grass.

planning process for this structure that will allow for year-round office space for OA and housing for summer camp staff on core campus.

This move frees up more year-round housing for OA faculty. Our overarching goal with this facility is to reduce the amount of transition that must occur between our camp and school seasons, and to provide more stable housing options for our faculty and staff.

This exciting work is just the first step in many that we hope will occur over the coming years. In 2007, we created an Eagle’s Nest Master Plan that has at its initial stage, moving the maintenance center. The next phase in this plan is building a Housing and Offices Building on the site of the old maintenance area. We are well along in the

You will be hearing much more about this new Housing/Offices building in the coming months as we finalize the construction documents and work to secure funding. We are planning with an eye to energy and water efficiency, use of local materials, recycling, and many other sustainable practices. Our break-ground date at this writing is August 2019, with a completion date goal of April 2020. If you are interested in learning how you can support this initiative please contact me; I will be happy to tell you all about it!

Taylor and Kyle, the dynamic duo of ENF Property Management!

FOUNDATION WISHLIST Eagle’s Nest would like to help you clean out your “stuff” and give it a good home.

The Nest can use the following gently-used items. If you would like to donate, please contact our development team (development@enf.org or 828-877-4349).

Around the House

– Coffee makers (large catering type or similar) – Coffee mugs (always) – Floor and table lamps – Costumes and dress-up clothes – Binoculars

Around the Kitchen

– Induction burner with compatible pots and pans (magnetic and flat bottom) – Mason jars with lids (new), or other containers for lotion, salves, spray bottles, etc.

– Knife roll/bag

From Your Garden to Ours

– Garden tools in good condition – EZ Up with ground stakes – Garden/yard cart (400lb capacity) – Weed fabric – Wheelbarrows – Watering cans

Artistic Touches

– Guitars and other small musical instruments of all kinds – Electric potter’s wheels – Manual, film SLR cameras

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New maintenance center at the edge of the horse pasture. Construction on the structure commenced in January; landscaping and the transition of equipment will be complete by opening day of Camp this summer.

Now accepting applications for Fall 2018 & Spring 2019

HANTE ADVENTURES

Session 1

Hante Trails

7th-11th Grade

Session 2

Hante Austria 8th-11th Grade

Rocks and Rivers 7th-11th Grade

Session 3

Hante British Columbia 8th-11th Grade

A.T. Trek NC 7th-11th Grade

Session 1 June 9th-22nd

EAGLE’S NEST CAMP

Added adventures Paleo: Primitive LivingExperiment

Session 2

Arts & Crafts

June 24th-July 13

Added Adventures Huck Finn

Session 3 July 15th-August 3rd

Horseback Riding & Athletics

Whitewater Canoeing, Backpacking & Rock Climbing

Added adventures Sea Islands

Session 4 August 5th-August 12th

GIVE US A CALL

Winston-Salem Office (336) 761-1040

Pisgah Forest Office (828) 877-4349

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