LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk 22 What's more is perhaps being provided the opportuni- ty to allow themselves to wonder, "Why am I crafting the puzzle? " WOODS seeks to provide that opportuni- ty. Taking a chance Seven years after the initial thought of WOODS, a great deal of research, experiential learning, seeking mentors, learning modalities, and a dash of dreaming, I was introduced to LPCSD Superintendent Tim Sey- mour. Without hesitation, I gave a two-minute pitch. Tim and I met multiple times not too long after. Tim and Theresa Lindsay, principal of the Lake Placid Middle High School, feel strongly in using the Adiron- dack landscape as a part of a student's public educa- tion. This land is a resource people travel at lengths to experience in a variety of ways. Through WOODS, student participants embrace living out of a backpack in the wilderness for four days without technology, demonstrating to themselves they have the capaci- ty to do hard things. They lean into discomfort with curiosity and guidance, tapping into gratitude and resilience that shapes the perspective they carry with them long after the trip is over and the backpacks are off. After a March 2023 WOODS trip, Grace Erickson, then an LPCSD senior, told the Board of Education her four days in the wilderness with her cohort helped her become closer to those classmates than throughout their lifetime of growing up together. More recently, I ran into a WOODS participant, LP- SCD alumni Adelisa Ahmemulic, serving at a restaurant in Lake Placid while out for dinner. She proudly an- nounced to our table, "I went camping with this wom- an for four days, and I am not a camper." Her emphasis on the word "four" is still ringing in my ears. The trip clearly stuck with her, as did her sense of pride. Local support, partnerships, and neighbors WOODS is in partnership with key local entities to ensure the success and continuation of the program. WOODS operates on a 622 acre land track owned by Paul Smith's College (PSC) in Onchiota. Dan Kelting, President of PSC has allowed for rental rates that are a key component to program sustainability. While Kelting has aided the "How" of this program in a huge sense, his personal support for the "Why" speaks loudly. This land in Onchiota upon which WOODS operates neighbors the Six Nation Iroquois Cultural Center. As a "neighbor," I knew out of the gate I wanted to intro- duce myself and create a positive relationship with the Fadden family who owns and operates the Cultural Center. By doing so, I hoped I would be able to show respect to the first people who lived here. After a WOODS event where 20+ people — including those from the Adirondack Land Trust, PSC, LPCSD, and other members from the community and press — listened to Dave Fadden speak around a fire, through the rain, with cell phones left in cars and nothing but intentionally open ears, I was able to build the begin- ning of a relationship with Fadden. Through knowl- edge he has shared with me, WOODS now begins trips with the "first fire" conversation, covering a part of the indigenous peoples' history that occupied this territory. WOODS is also in partnership with the Lake Placid Rotary Foundation, allowing donations to be made

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