cat⋅a⋅lyst- a person or thing that precipitates an event or change
The process of leaving childhood and growing into adulthood has been honored and supported by cultures throughout time and place. It is a crucial period of accelerated growth in which major elements of our adult lives are shaped. The challenges and lessons that we encounter in this time will have deep and lasting impacts. Learning to know ourselves and to be strong in who we are is the first step in being able to give back to the greater community as adults.
 
Knowing ourselves well and understanding our context in the modern world requires that we know where we have come from. We look back to times when people survived by their knowledge of the land and their skill with the raw materials that it provided. Our ancestor’s knowledge of the animals and tracking allowed them to read the stories left on the land by wildlife. Their ability to move silently and invisibly on the land allowed them to sneak up and touch animals. Their skill and art of making and using primitive weapons allowed them to eat. Their knowledge of trees gave them fire from friction. They made stone tools, such as arrowheads and knives because they understood the rocks. Their knowledge of plants served as their grocery store, hardware store, and pharmacy. Imagine knowing the land so well you never feel lost.
 
The Catalyst Program is designed to mentor students in their journey to their ancestral birthright: a deeper knowledge of self though the practice of primitive survival, long term primitive skills, connection to the land base, and the pursuit of greater internal and external awareness.
 
Click Here to see more pictures of Catalyst in Action
The four main goals of the Catalyst Program are:

• To teach teenagers practical wilderness survival skills.
• To expand student’s knowledge and awareness of the living world around them
• To refine and develop their creativity and innate problem-solving abilities both primitive and modern context.
• To enrich their land ethic and sense of place.

Each day at Catalyst includes the following Program Elements:

1. Naturalist Study and Training Students explore nature through first-hand interactions, direct observation and focused field guide research. Discoveries are documented in the student’s nature journal through writing, drawing, and photography. Wildlife tracking will be a major theme. This is where curiosity becomes contagious and leads to a burning need to know.
2. Core Practices Many (if not all) foundational awareness and wilderness skills develop only as a result of accumulated practice. Because skill development is one of the Catalyst Program’s primary objectives, regular practice time is structured into each day, with one-on-one coaching being part of each session.
3. Initiative Challenges Based on realistic wilderness survival scenarios, these challenges confront the student with a problem that needs to be solved. These challenges offer experiential learning where the student integrates teachings into knowledge, and turns knowledge into understanding. An opportunity to fully test the primitive survival skills.
4. Workshop Projects This element of the program emphasizes the process of turning raw materials from the wild into finished and functional hand-made tools. Students will choose, research, design, and make several projects throughout the year. This is where we delve into primitive skill by looking at their context historically, culturally, and pragmatically.

 
All of these elements are focused into a cohesive year long curriculum which also includes three overnights and three field trips spaced throughout the year. Catalyst’s maximum enrollment is limited to ten to ensure low student to instructor ratios. The program takes place on location at Roots School and offers students access to the facilities and land.
 
Nick Neddo and Brad Salon team up to instruct the Catalyst Program, with guest appearances from the rest of the Roots staff throughout the year. Occasionally local experts and guest instructors will join us to add breadth and dimension to our teachings. Tuition and Dates
Tuition: $1,500 Deposit: $300 is due the time of registration. The balance of the tuition can then be paid either at the start of the program, or in three trimester payments of $400 throughout the year.
Dates: September 15, 2010 - June, 2010. Wednesdays 8am-4pm.