A Note from the Director...

Should getting kids outside and teaching youth about the natural world be treated as one of the most important events in their lives? We at Cascadia believe it to be more than true. Research reveals the necessity of contact with nature for healthy child and adult development. Additionally, studies show youth connected to outdoor activity, service learning and place-based learning score higher on standardized tests and tend to have a higher GPA, stay in school longer, and receive higher than average scholarship awards. *

Trends are pointing to our society having a serious disconnect with the natural world. The condition has been coined as “a nature-deficit disorder”. Over the last couple of decades advancing technologies have had a surreptitious way of co-opting our children. Our youth spend less and less time in natural surroundings as TV’s, computers, and video games compete for their time. 


Cascadia Adventure Education School aims to “reconnect” youth with the natural world. We are dedicated to helping shape an alternative future, one in which kids experience the natural world more deeply and have a tremendous amount of fun and learning while doing so. In the process, like minded youth come together, connect with each other and their mentors along the way. Opportunities to practice and assimilate principles of leadership development and service learning underpin all of Cascadia’s programming.  With the combined decades of experience our staff brings to the table we are proud to introduce our new brand of environment based education. It’s transformational and innovative.

It’s likely your teenager may have tasted just enough nature or outdoor activity to intuitively understand what they are missing. We’d like to help take them the next step forward. You as a parent have a choice and your teen has a chance - we invite your son or daughter to join us on a remarkable journey.

                                                                  - Jim Wells, Director

* Lieberman and Hoody 1998, Bartosh 2003, Seer 2000.
Youth Outdoor Training, Alaska Wilderness Camps, Oregon Wilderness School, Washington Teen Summer Camp

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