**New Cohort —LEADERSHIP MENTOR IN TRAINING WORKSHOP 2026

Welcome New Cohort Workshop–March 28 (At VFFS 10-2)

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LEADERSHIP MENTOR IN TRAINING WORKSHOP SERIES 2025-2026

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Join us for two workshops to deepen your skills as a “Mentor in Training”!!! 

We will laugh. We will create. We will build.

We will grow together in nature mentoring. 

Students will learn about the Coyote’s Way of Nature Mentoring (Jon Young’s, http://coyotoesguide.com) and will hone in their connection and foster their own pathway of how to lead nature connection in others.

In a time where disconnect is growing and resilience is dwindling, 

NOW is the time to CONNECT! Join us on this journey! 

We offer a tiered payment system for the MIT program. The concept is to offer a pay-what-you-can model so that you can see the real cost of programming at VFFS while receiving support as needed. If you are in need of additional financial aid (it is limited) please contact Misse. Please note that all MIT’s and Apprentices are to pay for school year and leadership week programming. Stipend apprenticeship is during the regular summer camp season.

Mentors in Training (MITs) are 12-14 years old, and are looking for a little more than the carefree camp experience! They are at VFFS to grow their leadership and nature/crafting skills, be awesome role models for younger campers, and be helpful and supportive to staff. As an MIT gains experience and/or wants to challenge themself, they will be given opportunities to share skills and lead activities with campers with staff support. MITs are also learning to be more aware of group dynamics, their ability to share skills, and the structure and intention that goes into a day of camp. And of course, they are at VFFS to have fun! Attending this program allows you to help during our summer camp weeks and put your skills to use!

Details: Both MIT and Apprentices join us for a series of community-building workshops and a week of immersion and summer camp preparation! Students will build skills that will last a lifetime and that can be shared with VFFS summer camp. If you are interested in joining as an Apprentice or MIT during summer camp, this program is required. 

Program Facilitators:

Ashley Piccirillo

Misse Axelrod

Teresa Helms

Yasi Zeichner (behind the scenes)

MENTOR Apprenticeship

15 + Years Old:

Mentor Apprentices are 15+ years old, have had one or more years of MIT experience at VFFS (or equivalent experience elsewhere), and apply for a stipend assistant/apprentice position at VFFS. This role comes with more responsibility than an MIT role. Mentor Apprentices are more capable of leading/co-leading groups of kids, and will be expected to lead (with support) portions of the day throughout the week (examples: story time, a skills workshop, a wild woods wander, a game). There is a limited number of Mentor Apprentice openings during summer camps.

Prerequisite: must have been a MIT for at least one year or have previous experience. If you have not attended the MIT training or been an MIT, you can join the spring and summer program to acquire the necessary training.

Session cost:  This is a stipend position – $250/week.