Overview
Program Overview:
Wolf Ridge offers work experience combined with regular evaluation and graduate level coursework in collaboration with Antioch University New England – designed to help you grow as an experiential educator and naturalist. Wolf Ridge alumni continue to teach and lead the field of environmental education all over the world in formal classrooms, at state and national parks, in nature centers, zoos, museums, organic farms, and as artists and adventurers. Since 1974, the program has served almost 1000 graduate students and interns with diverse backgrounds who come to this learning community to sharpen their skills in environmental education and sustainability.
This is a 10-month program from late August to Mid June that culminates in a graduate-level Certificate in Environmental Education and Sustainability, with 12 transferable graduate credits. The cost for the program is $250 per credit ($3,000 total) and includes tuition for 12 graduate credits, a private room in our sustainable staff housing, and meals in our dining hall. Work study opportunities are available to offset the out of pocket price.
Teach at Wolf Ridge:
An average week consists of six half-day classes from Monday through Friday, plus an average of one weekend a month. The classes cover topics in cultural history, natural history, and adventure education. Your students from visiting schools will typically range from fourth grade to 12th grade. This is a residential (total immersion) learning program designed so that you will learn from practice – teaching, exploring, and living in community.
Earn Graduate Credits:
The graduate-level Certificate of Environmental Education and Sustainability, managed by both Wolf Ridge and Antioch University New England, serves as the core of our program. At the end of your time at Wolf Ridge, you’ll leave with 12 graduate credits that can be applied toward a Master’s program at Antioch University New England or any other program in the nation.
Everything you do here is connected to a credit. Whether you’re teaching, attending a seminar, or walking through the woods looking at plants, you’re receiving credit. Seminars and course work may include bird banding, plant identification hikes, discussing equitable learning environments, tapping maple trees, practicing place-based education, lynx tracking in the national forest, and exploring local food systems. You will explore both theory and practice combining a rich understanding of the psychological needs of students and theoretical aspects of pedagogy with real-life experience. The entire program is interdisciplinary and will put you in direct contact with professionals in education, wildlife management, storytelling, business administration, organic farming, live animal care, and more.
Housing is provided and includes a private room, large shared kitchen, multiple common areas, laundry, meals in the dining hall, and a beautiful view of Lake Superior!
Qualifications:
Applicants with varied backgrounds and levels of experience in environmental education are encouraged to apply.
Applicants must have a completed bachelor's degree to qualify for graduate credit.
Preferred Skills:
Comfortable working with children and living in a small community.
About Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center
Wolf Ridge ELC is an accredited K-12 school that specializes in residential school trips with a focus on hands-on experiential learning. We welcome over 12,000 students, teachers, and chaperones annually to our 2,000 acre campus for multi-day immersive outdoor experiences. Our mission is to develop a citizenry that has the knowledge, skills, motivation, and commitment to work together for a quality environment. We achieve this by: fostering awareness, curiosity, and sensitivity to the natural world; providing lifelong learning experiences in nature; developing social understanding, respect, and cooperation; modeling values, behaviors, and technologies which lead to a sustainable lifestyle; and promoting the concepts of conservation and stewardship.
