“ʻO ka hana ka paʻa a me ke kumu” means “The work is the bond and the teacher”. This is an ʻŌlelo Noʻeau (proverb/saying) a friend taught me. It captures so much of why I value experiential learning. I have created the closest bonds with places and people I have worked and struggled to overcome challenges and learned the most through the process.

I have made it a point to participate in and lead service learning and wilderness expeditions throughout my life. This is how I recharge, reconnect with my values, learn new things and give back to my human and non-human relatives who inhabit the places I live and travel. What I want to be known for is passing down this value system to younger people and help them connect through service and expeditions the way I have had the opportunity to.

During the school year I am currently the Service Learning Coordinator at Yokohama International School, Japan. I work with students, teachers and community partners to get every one of our 800+ students involved in our over 30 initiatives and clubs which are most run by student leadership. Some examples are: providing food assistance and supplies directly to people in our community living in relative poverty, helping to create services for refugees, tackling fashion waste, providing comfort to our nearby elderly care homes, helping learn to care for bees in the local park. You can see more on the YIS Service Learning IG account which is run by the students.

I’ve been lucky to have also been able to lead student trips to other communities and countries like Fiji, Laos and The Blackfoot Nation. These have been with the LJA I Term and YIS Expeditions Program and Wild Kids Hawaii/Montana. In each of these trips we have been invited to learn and work alongside our hosts.

Last summer we had the honor to help with building the sacred Sundance lodge for a ceremony in Browning, Montana. We learned and grew in our understanding of the culture and their values while also providing the energy and assistance to sustain the dancers through cooking food, learning the songs and working hard for 4 days to cut and carry the cottonwoods and willows needed. Lifting the massive branches into place in the right order as they have been placed for generations was one of the most powerful experiences of my life.

Throughout the year I also lead wilderness expeditions. Last year I got to snowshoe and sleep in quinzhee snow caves for a week with a group of high school students.For 5 summers I have taken a group of 9-12th graders deep into the Montana Bob Marshal Wilderness Complex for a week long backpacking trip.