Wild Wind News, January 2024

As we move into the heart of winter, our thoughts drift from the holidays to the many changes that come seasonally and planning for another year. For many of us, the best way to slow our thoughts and fill our souls is to get outside, breathe deep, and listen to the silence. Sometimes it takes some effort to find those places, but when we do, it brings us to a place of peace.  

Wild Wind and the Kid for the Wild Scholarship have a mission to help more youth have the opportunity for this kind of experience. Maybe you have done this as a family all of your lives, and maybe those moments are too few and far between.  Life is so different for each and every one of us. One thing is for certain, and that is the natural world opens our senses; it can help us see inside our hearts and hear the rhythms we may have ignored. We can find connection in nature that is sometimes hard to find in an overstimulated world.  

The Kid for the Wild Scholarship is an attempt to help any youth who wants to experience time outside have the opportunity to do so. Below is a link to learn more about this scholarship. The deadline for application is Wednesday, April 30. Applicants will know if they’ll be offered the scholarship within a few weeks following that deadline.

If you know any young people or organizations that are interested in these kinds of experiences and could use support, please pass this information along.

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Any of you who have been long-time readers and/or supporters of the scholarship fund have read these WW Newsletters over the years. I wanted to have something new and very special for you to read, so I asked Jim’s sister, Susan Grace, if she could write something about her “Kid for the Wild” experiences. 

Susan is an artist, amazing gardener and musician, singer-songwriter, activist for wild places, traveler of many places, and educator who has brought so much joy in many ways to so many on this planet.  

Find a very comfortable spot and relish this story of how her life has evolved. 

Kid for the Wild: Susan Grace Stoltz

When I think about “Kid for the Wild,” I remember spending my summers playing in Northern Michigan…swimming, sleeping on the beach, and exploring the North Country woods endlessly. My brother Jim and I were fortunate to spend time living with our grandparents on Torch Lake in the summers. I really believe this time shaped our lives; I know it did for me.

Then when I was 16, I went out to meet Jim while he was hiking the Appalachian Trail and hiked with him through CT, Mass to the VT border. With his long legs, he walked much faster than I. He would wait up for me at beautiful rest spots or tricky places along the trail. As a young woman, I was given the gift of walking alone with a pack on my back enjoying my own company, strength of body and spirit as I moved through a wonderous place. This was the beginning of many hiking adventures to come in my life.

Jim with Susan on the Pacific Ocean as he finished his Ocean to Ocean hike.

Living in gratitude, I count my blessings that I was a kid for the wild, seeing how it shaped my life… For many summers I worked with Girl Scouts at residence camps in Michigan. After moving to Alaska, I worked with Campfire clubs and camps. Ultimately, I created Camp Habitat. This is a day camp for kids 4-14, with a backpacking program for teens. It is still running after 33 years! Created Our Village Preschool, a place-based environmental preschool. Over the years I was involved with developing education programs at Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, consulted on curriculum development for Denali National Park Discovery Camp, and Education kits for the Fairbanks School District.

Years later I was visiting a friend at the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo WI and met Elena and Sergei Smirinski, both amazing Earth Heroes. They invited me to volunteer and teach at Muroviovka Park Youth Camp in Russia on the Amur River for two summers. From that experience, I connected with biologists from S. Korea and created the International Crane Camp, bringing together youth from Russia and South Korea. Youth from the Red Crowned Crane nesting grounds in Muroviovka Park, Russia and youth from their wintering grounds in Cherwon,  South  Korea…it was fabulous for 2 years until Covid hit.

As an Environmental educator for 40 years, I believe children are our greatest natural resource. It is a treasure to “open doors” for children, to encourage their sense of wonder, and to learn with them and from them. It is one of the greatest honors to share special moments with children in nature. Some of these moments will leave life-long impressions on their being. These moments will have an impact as to how they choose to live their lives as they grow into an adult. When you treat all children (all humans), as well as all forms of life on this planet with respect, you receive that sense of love and appreciation in return. This is one of the greatest gifts we can give one another!

So, my friends, I know many of you have had incredible experiences in nature when you were young that shaped who you are today. By supporting Kid for the Wild scholarship fund you are providing a rich future for children and youth to have life-changing experiences.

Keep wonder alive! Thank you for supporting Kid for The Wild!

Peace to you,

Susan Grace