Winter TeenNat: an Intentional Space for Bonding

By Holland Gistelli Education Program Coordinator

The winter school break brings one of our most anticipated education events of the year – Winter TeenNat. Since 2020, we have welcomed TeenNat alumni back to Pepperwood with open arms for three days of joyous nature exploration, new connections, and continued mentorship over the winter holiday. This special alumni reunion brings together past participants from all years of Pepperwood´s summer TeenNat program, dating back a decade to our first cohort from 2013!

This year, high school students from our most recent cohorts connected with college students and graduates by sharing insights and building community. We created a safe space for alumni to share their recent accomplishments and adventures and to talk about where their educational and career paths are leading them. In these moments, our older alumni are serving as near-peer mentors and role models, illuminating for our younger alumni the range of open doors –including experiential opportunities and leadership pathways.

A major highlight of Winter TeenNat is the opportunity for our alumni to be immersed in the wonders of the cool, damp winter landscape – our green season! This is a far cry from the hot and dry weather and natural phenomena they experienced during their summer TeenNat session. Our Winter TeenNat crews bond over planting native bunchgrasses into rich, rain-saturated earth, watching a northern harrier gliding over green grasslands, examining the microhabitat of a lush moss and lichen forest on an oak branch, encountering ponds brimming with newts in the midst of breeding season, and learning about the fascinating diversity of fungi we find.

Winter TeenNat exemplifies the power of creating a welcoming and encouraging space for young people to explore their interests. It is important to our team to ensure our “TeenNatters” know that they are always welcome at Pepperwood, that this is a community where they belong. Many are still figuring out what paths they want to pursue, and are inspired by hearing fellow alumni’s updates about their exploration of degrees and jobs spanning interests from science to the humanities. Each year we are grateful to share in the joy our TeenNatters experience during this chance to get out into the rejuvenating fresh air and beauty of nature, growing supportive friendships among kindred spirits.

Each winter since 2020, we’ve held a three-day TeenNat Alumni community reunion during which participants reconnect with the land, their passion, and each other. Photos courtesy of Summer Swallow.