Happy Holidays from all of us at Experience Learning!
In 2017 we truly reinvented ourselves, starting a new chapter for the Spruce Knob campus, and incorporating all sorts of new opportunities on Sweetwater Farm. We were inspired by your school group, your camp group and your participation in all the wonderfully varied events that happen on our little postage stamp of land, up on the shoulder of Spruce Knob.
Experience Learning is, of course, a non-profit organization. We don’t have to grow to keep our shareholders happy, though we do have many investors. Our growth is geared in a more organic direction. Like the forest, we grow slowly, through all of our various parts, and as we get closer to maturity, we achieve deeper roots, richer soil, and more varied textures among our programming and participants. This growth allows us to reach farther, to involve more kids and adults from different communities, and to reach deeper, affecting our participants and staff in life-changing ways. One this year’s summer campers is a great example of this:
I just wanted to let you know how much Mia enjoyed the Mountain Stewards program, and how grateful I am that you turned us on to it! As you know Mia is very outdoorsy and an experienced backpacker, but the stewardship and community building aspects of Mountain Stewards were really transformational for her. These are the values that my whole career are built on, but as you likely have also experienced, sometimes it’s challenging to impart your personal values to your own kids!
Mountain Stewards is a wonderful program, and I know Mia will be back. In fact the first thing she said to me when I picked her up at Spruce Knob is, “I’m going to do this for two weeks next year!”
So just simply, thank you!
And thank you, too, for being a part of Experience Learning!