Woods to Waves

Ages: 15-17 • Price: $750

Dates: SESSION 6 (7/21-7/26)

All applications will be reviewed by our Summer Program Team. You will be notified about your registration status within two weeks of submitting your application.

Email summerprograms@westminsterwoods.org or call us at 707-874-2426 ext. 612 with any questions.

Continuing Westminster Woods’ long trip-camp tradition, Woods to Waves gives a group of high schoolers the freedom to bond with one another through the shared discovery of Sonoma County’s hidden creeks and corners, and through the collaborative sharing of their own stories and wisdom around the campfire. Led by a Wilderness First Responder, the group hikes from Westminster Woods out to the coast, where they will spend the week together hiking, kayaking, and tide-pooling, all while practicing important life skills in being effective human beings, namely facilitating and participating in productive dialogues. Using the week’s physical journey as a metaphor for that of our own lives, campers will participate in an ongoing discussion on the topic of meaning, examining the role it plays in their own lives and how to help others find theirs. Join us for a week of adventure and conversation!

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We are living in uncertain times and our young people are feeling it more than ever. In a world rife with online distractions, environmental existentialism, and political infighting, more and more young people report feeling unmoored and isolated from the inherent meaning of the human project. The goal of Woods to Waves is to help inoculate campers against this phenomenon by providing simple yet powerful tools that empower them to be the most awesome version of themselves, versions that are contagious and inspire those around them to also want to become better at being human!

We want to provide a space where campers can share in structured conversations on the sorts of topics usually relegated to late-night chats between good friends. At Wood to Waves, campfires will be largely discussion based, giving campers the opportunity to share their thoughts with their peers on questions on meaning: What gives my life meaning? How do we cultivate it? And what even is meaning, and how do we recognize it? Each night will have its own discussion prompts, and it is up the campers where they want to take it!

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Woods to Waves is a physically active program and should be considered as intermediate in difficulty. The more challenging aspects primarily encompass hiking and kayaking, but even ancillary activities such as packing, meal prepping, and setting up/taking down camp should be taken into account. Rest assured, there will be plenty of down time, as our bodies need to recoup, but it will be well earned. 

The two tenets of Woods to Waves are activity and discussion, and high schoolers who find satisfaction in both should consider applying! Campers applying should expect and be prepared to:

1. Be quite active. The trek out to the coast is over 10 miles and those kayaks don’t row themselves!

2. Share in discussions. While Westminster Woods always uses a “challenge-by-choice” approach, and will never force sharing, seeing as a large aspect of this program is rooted in an ongoing dialogue, campers should be excited to participate as such. We want to hear your thoughts!

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