It’s not news that Eagle’s Nest Camp and The Outdoor Academy have made an environmental commitment. This is an ideal that has shaped our programs since the beginning and continues to flow through everything we do from lessons in science class, to running through the woods on a hot summer day, to the strategic work being done by the ENF Board of Trustees.
Each semester, OA students read portions of Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass. Kimmerer, who is an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, is a professor, biologist, poet, and the founder of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, which is located in Syracuse, NY. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer teaches us that, “Knowing that you love the earth changes you, activates you to defend and protect and celebrate. But when you feel that the earth loves you in return, that feeling transforms the relationship from a one-way street into a sacred bond.” This excerpt feels particularly “Nesty” to me. It’s the way we teach about the earth and hope our campers and students take this love of nature/environment/earth with them in their life paths. It’s how the Foundation approaches the ways in which we “use” our land and in making choices that are both financially and environmentally responsible. I wonder, how do you celebrate the earth?
Over the years, Eagle’s Nest has put resources and time into much more than celebrating the earth; we are trying to protect, heal, learn from, teach with, and become a part of the global solution to fight the warming of our planet. Here are some steps ENF has taken as part of our environmental commitment.
2016 With Conserving Carolina and the Clean Water Management Trust Fund (NC Land and Water Fund), over 76% of ENF’s land was placed in a conservation easement, protecting our wild classroom forever.
2017 We launched a Green Cleaning Initiative that has reduced our use of phosphates, harmful chemicals, and single use plastics. *Cleaning has been an evolving process with the onset of COVID-19 disinfecting protocols, and we hope to return to all green products soon!
2018 We revised our Kitchen Manual to include more environmentally sustainable practices, including sourcing of products, staff structure, and further incorporating the Garden to Table programming into meals.
2021 We began researching and evaluating energy efficiency at ENF. A dedicated group of alumni (aptly called the “Energy Work Group”) have been helping to guide the process of creating a sustainable and actionable plan.
2022 A solar study was completed and all lighting fixtures on campus were upgraded to energy efficient LED bulbs, a project that was funded by a partnership with our utility company. We also completed a solid waste audit and preliminary energy audit with the help of Waste Reduction Partners, who help organizations improve environmental and energy management through efficiency techniques that save money.
All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis
Edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine Wilkinson (OA Alum Sem8)
The More Extravagant Feast
Leah Green (OA Alum Sem8) Winner of the Walt Whitman Award of the Academy of American Poets
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants
Robin Wall KimmererBelonging: a culture of place bell hooks
The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion
Kei Miller
C onserving Carolina
NC Land and Water Fund
Waste Reduction Partners
Lime Energy
Rhino Renewables
Charlie’s Soap
Avery special thanks to the volunteers of our Energy Work Group for providing their time and knowledge to help guide us on the path towards a greener campus: Ana Sophia Mifsud (OA Sem32), Maddy Pearce (OA Sem34, Camp), Jeremy Akin (OA Sem37), Will Abberger (Camp, Trustee), David Gilbert (Trustee), and Laura Kraus Lovenshimer (Former OA Faculty). If you are in the energy, climate, or sustainability sector and would like to join this group or have questions, comments, or resources to share, PLEASE reach out to Cara Varney, Development Director at cara@enf.org.
Organizations ENF has partnered with:
OA Semester 37
Q: Where did you go after High School?
A: I attended Haverford College where I majored in Economics with an Environmental Studies minor. As part of my Environmental Studies curriculum, I spent a semester abroad in Freiburg, Germany where I learned a great deal about the energy transition. During my senior year, I authored a thesis on the political economics of utility-scale battery storage.
Q: What are you doing now and how are you involved in the global climate community?
A: I am a developer in the renewable energy industry working on utility-scale projects, primarily in upstate New York. I work for a company called ConnectGen that develops, builds, and operates utility-scale renewable energy and energy storage projects across the United States. The development-stage projects that I work on, in aggregate, have the potential to power over 100,000 homes.
Q: What is your favorite memory, or the most influential thing you recall from your time at 43 Hart Road?
A: Susan Tinsley Daily’s environmental seminar course unquestionably inspired my life’s work. As a participant in her seminar, I honed my passion for pragmatic climate change mitigation which ultimately catalyzed my career in renewable energy. To this day, I look back on my four months at OA as a truly formative moment. I would not be where or who I am today without OA and ENF.
Q: Where did you go after High School?
A: After high school, I attended the University of South Carolina where I formally studied electrical engineering (emphasis on renewable energy technology) with leadership distinction in civic and professional engagement. Outside of class, I was an active member of Sustainable Carolina, where I helped organize professional green networking events. This eventually led me to secure an internship with a construction management company where I focused on supporting the newly built Law school at USC to achieve LEED Gold certification.
Q: What are you doing now and how are you involved in the global climate community?
A: I am a Climate Change Consultant at Environmental Resource Management (ERM) where I help companies identify their climate impacts, such as GHG emissions, risks, and opportunities, and support them in creating a climate strategy to decarbonize their businesses.
Prior to working at ERM, I worked at ICF Inc as a Climate Change Researcher, working with government agencies, small companies, and local and state governments, in support of their climate projects and strategy programs.
Q: What is your favorite memory, or the most influential thing you recall from your time at 43 Hart Road?
A: That’s a hard one because there are so many! I would say one of the most influential aspects has been the community. From the start, each time I step foot on campus, I’ve met so many magical and caring people who have contributed greatly to the person I am today.
Golf. It’s one of America’s favorite pastimes. [...] With golf comes golf courses, and with these courses come serious environmental issues. Things like land and water use, as well as fertilizer runoff, are, and will continue to be, detrimental to the natural environments around them. How do we, as a society, tread the line between the safety of our environment and continuance of activities that are important to us? Can we find the balance? Do we have to abandon these activities? Do we have to abandon the environment in favor of our leisure? Lace up everyone, it’s tee time with me, Ward.”
The thought of finals week might make most students shudder in anticipation of late-night cram sessions and hours of testing. At OA, rather than studying and sitting for exams (ok, there is usually a math test), our students are spread over campus furiously re-writing their outlines, interviewing each other, their teachers, and their families, creating their own music, and editing their recordings.
On this episode, we will be tackling the subject of how the fash-
Welcome to synced, by Scholars Enterprises. I’m Doc – and I’m Elia – and today we’ll be talking about the human connection to nature. Our essential question is: why do people care about the environment? We’ll be talking about this through three lenses: the environmental justice movement, people of color and displacement, and American pride and nationalism.”
ion industry and industrialization shape today’s society. We are your hosts, Cass and Kathryn, and this is Our Lens. For background, the $2.5 trillion fashion industry heavily affects our carbon footprint and is responsible for about 10% of greenhouse gas emissions. Fashion is on track to become about a quarter of the global carbon footprint. Woah, that’s crazy.”
The podcast project was first created in Fall 2021 as an interdisciplinary final project to complement the new Bridge curriculum (see Fall, 2021 Eagle online for more on Bridge). In it, students have the chance to create 15-minute podcasts addressing a question – any question – that relates to themes covered in their English, Environmental Science, and History classes.
“It’s the culmination of a philosophy that puts students in charge of their own learning,” US History teacher and former Resident Griffin Pollock explains. “Students have a question about the world,” adds Elyse Terrill, OA’s Spanish teacher, “and they don’t answer it but instead open the door to continue learning.”
While such technology-based work might seem antithetical to OA’s tradition of being screen-free, podcasts are actually perfectly suited to capture the art of discussion and depth of conversation that students cultivate through all their classes at OA. Soon-to-be hosts craft their essential questions and the full outlines of their episodes based only on their class notes and personal musings. A “smart recorder” runs in the background as Cass and Kathryn convene a discussion circle to talk about thrifting or Ward calls his grandpa to ask how he reconciles the environmental impact of the game they both love. They use Alitu, a minimalist podcast editing software, to crop and order their voice tracks and select the perfect transition music.
While it might not hang on the wall like a coat rack or a quilt, each podcast is just as much a proud testament to the long process of learning and creating that marks how we do everything at The Outdoor Academy.
Emily Cava Northrop, OA Dean of Academics & Environmental Science Teacher
In our Centennial Plan, finalized in 2014, we committed to achieving several priorities by our 100th-year birthday in 2027. Since our community planning discussions in 2013, where we gathered in cities around the country, through these last couple of years YOU have helped ENF accomplish so much. We continue to fully live into our mission and to respond to changes in the world around us, thanks to you.
• New promotional videos for Camp and OA
• Initiated targeted marketing with professional consultants
• Hosted in-person alumni gatherings
• Created ENF Zoom Room to accommodate outside speakers and blended in-person and virtual meetings
• Continued in-person, pandemic–conscientious programming for OA and Camp
• Continued discussions on board and administrative structure, succession planning, and future growth needs
• Reinitiated annual employee satisfaction survey
• Salary Benchmarking study moved to final stages and initiated first phases of adjustments
• Introduced non-gendered Kindred groups
• Anti-racism training for all staff and faculty
• Mental Health First Aid training for all faculty and camp administration
• Implemented a human-resources recruiting, hiring, and onboarding platform to assist in building a diverse and robust staff
• Sustainability Plan: revamped ENF gardening program
• Conducted a solar study and a preliminary energy audit; upgraded all lighting to LED; began Energy Plan for ENF
• Purchased property on Crab Creek Road, which provides two housing units and additional building sites for year-round staff and faculty
• Began wastewater construction, survey, and design for additional staff and faculty housing at Berry Patch
• Refined Bridge curriculum at OA
• Removed gender as a means of sorting for Camp Kindreds, while maintaining traditions of reflection, belonging, and recognition within community
• Met and exceeded fundraising goals
• Continual study of financial capacity within context of COVID-19 pandemic and related impacts
• Outsourced payroll functions for the organization
• Applied for and received Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC)
• Reconfiguring ENF Financial Resiliency Plan for a post pandemic economy
For more information on ENF’s Centennial Priorities please visit www.enf.org/enf-centennial-update
With support from our 628 donors, we raised $373,580 for the Annual Fund in 2022. Your gifts support scholarships for future campers and students, DEI efforts for faculty and staff, buildings and site improvements, special projects, endowed funds, and more. We are sincerely grateful for your continued support, and we look forward to what 2023 brings!
$373,580 2022 Camp Financial Aid
$127,280
Awarded in aid
# of Camp and Hante
Scholarships:
85
Total raised
25% Scholarships
50% Unrestricted
11% Program
2022 OA Financial Aid
# of OA Scholarships: (or 47% of students)
21 38%
of financial aid given is funded by donors
5% Endowed
$379,150
Awarded in aid
9% Special Projects/ Building Funds
Thank you to our incredible community for making 2022 a year to remember!
Eagle’s Nest has made such a big impact on my life that I cannot begin to express my gratitude in words. Camp will forever and always have a special place in my heart, I will carry the magic of the sacred place wherever I go. I’ll always be grateful that I can call Eagle’s Nest home.”
-Camp AlumHante Adventures offer unique experiences rooted in the Eagle’s Nest mission. These two to three week expeditions invoke a deeper understanding of yourself, others, and the world around you through trekking, rock climbing, and paddling in diverse natural environments. By balancing challenges and abilities with a group of your peers, you can expect to leave with greater confidence, compassion, leadership, and friendships that will last a lifetime.”
-Ed Haubenreiser, Hante and Outdoor Programs
This morning I watched Eagle’s Nest Camp’s first TikTok (can you believe it? We have TikTok - please follow us and suggest ideas). It was so fun to watch Frank, our new Assistant Camp Director, and Ben, our new Program Manager and beloved counselor, goofing around for “A Day in the Life” at camp. In the TikTok, Frank was running in flippers to swim in the lake, and Ben, as the lifeguard with his lifeguard tube at the ready, told him not to run on the dock. It was silly, simple comedy, but I found myself smiling and chuckling out loud. I nearly forwarded it to a bunch of non-camp friends so they could see how fun my job is, but then I thought they might not think this is as funny as I think it is, so I resisted the impulse (but I’ll probably send it on to them later or share it in my story so that everyone can see that camp people are the best people).
Summer camp really is the best place on earth! Where else can you eschew cell phone use and endless scrolling for making up silly word games with friends? Where can kids of all ages (including those in their twenties and fifties) dance with abandon to classic bands like The Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls, or showcase their talent for solving a Rubik’s Cube in under 7 seconds at a talent show? Whose staff meetings include sharing gratitudes and shout outs while talking about being anti-racists, creating new risk management policies, and also brainstorming how to set up a giant size Survivor-style obstacle course? I bet you could all think of a lot of places where you CAN’T find these things (and wish you could).
Camp is special. It’s a place like few others where we can all suspend disbelief for a while and know that whatever we dream or believe is possible. At camp, you can’t be “too cool for school,” because it’s CAMP, and, at camp, what’s cool doesn’t even matter (unless we’re talking about the number of Dolly’s Ice Cream stickers that are on your trunk). Camp is a magical little community that has been very intentionally created to allow children to be safe and encouraged to explore the world around them, communicate honestly with each other, dress up in wacky clothes and create their own fun! We don’t hear too many kids say “I’m bored” at camp.
In a world where we celebrate hump days and “FriYays”, where we slam the laptop shut or zip the bookbag tight for the weekend, and where we dream of being able to break out of the ordinary at work or school and do a crazy dance or skit (maybe without the flippers), camp is the antidote. Camp, and our campers and staff, bring the energy that ignites the playful, accepting, fun-loving flame in all of us. And goodness am I lucky to be part of it!
If you are an Eagle’s Nest alum or friend and need a little dose of the camp energy, please contact us! We’d love to have you stop by campus to say hello and see what’s new, and what’s the same (Quad rocks, the smell of the pine trees, the Old Lodge). If you know of someone who would benefit from coming to camp or doing a Hante, please direct them to our website and the new videos we created this summer (and watch them yourself; they’ll make you smile). Finally, if you know of any folks who would be interested in igniting those flames as counselors this summer, please let me know or pass my email on to them (paige@enf.org).
Close your eyes and imagine a banjo in the hands of its player. Where are they? What are they wearing? I can guess that many of you conjure a rural scene that might include an older white man, a front porch, red suspenders, a rocking chair, and maybe an old hat. When many people consider the history of bluegrass music, and especially of the banjo, similar scenes come to mind. But the banjo, bluegrass music, and many other popular genres of music actually originated in Africa.
As part of the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection, from the Special Collections Research Center located in the Belk Library and Information Commons at Appalachian State University, “African American musicians have lived in, contributed to, and influenced Appalachian music commu-
nities since the introduction of the banjo and early work songs and chants through modern blues, jazz, gospel, pop, and rock music.”
Much of the music that we consider to be traditional to the Southern Appalachian Mountains has its roots in Africa. Recently, the Eagle’s Nest Foundation Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Discussion Group took a little dive into the history of the banjo and the development of bluegrass music in the Appalachian region. Following are a few resources from our discussion. (If you have limited time I suggest watching the two Ted Talks and the interview that Rhiannan Giddens, who is one of the founders of the Carolina Chocolate Drops and co-composed the recent opera “Omar” with Michael Abels, did with David Holt. The Rhiannon Giddens “Tiny Desk Concert” is also lovely.)
-Jack Dappa Blue Pad cast with Tony Thomas
-Carolina Chocolate Drops
the
Did you feel similarly to Rhiannon when you engaged with these materials? Did you read or hear something that you didn’t know that made you think “what else don’t I know?”
What did you read, hear, or see that surprised you? Did you know that square dancing comes from African-American influence?
How has your perspective changed from reading, listening to, or watching these materials?
In one of the readings, we learned that Black musicians couldn’t record their music, but whites could. How does this affect the passing down of history and the loss of historical fact? Where else do we see this?
Now accepting students for the Fall 2023 & Spring 2024 semesters.
Why do you think African Americans have moved away from this kind of music?
What other things do you think they’ve brought to our culture and then moved away from?
What do you feel inspired to do after learning more about the roots of traditional music in Appalachia?
Passages:
Erick Adams (Camp) passed away on December 3, 2022. View his obituary herehttps://www.gainesville.com/ obituaries/pgai0371489
May 1, 1934 - September 18, 2022
Along-time friend and supporter of ENF passed away this past fall and left a memorial bequest to the Foundation from his IRA. As a Sustainer of ENF, Dr. Stanley Bohrer made a planned gift that left a legacy to provide future generations of young people the opportunity for an experientially-based education that sparks a passion for the natural world and growth in discovery of their best selves.
Dr. Bohrer earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and M.D. from the Harvard Medical School. In his medical training, he focused on surgery and radiology, the latter of which he dedicated his entire career. A lifelong sculptor, he became fascinated by the Yoruba culture and art while in Africa.
In 2000, Dr. Bohrer wrote in a letter to Helen Waite, former ENF Executive Director, in regards to Eagle’s Nest, “I believe any presently worthwhile cause will survive and flourish without me to still be around and still in need when I’m fitted with my final wings.”
To read more about Dr. Bohrer’s incredible contributions, please visit his obituary on Legacy.com.
Our Sustainers have designated gifts to a variety of funding opportunities that touch every corner of our programming. We can accept planned gifts of any size to any of our current funds (including Unrestricted) or endowed funds.
Please contact us directly at development@enf.org or 828-877-4349 to discuss your philanthropic ideas and goals as they pertain to Eagle’s Nest or to receive a copy of a sample fund agreement.
Logan Morlino (Camp, OA, Former Staff) married Drew Watson in a beautiful fall ceremony on October 22, 2022.
Margaret Esposito (Camp, OA, Staff, Trustee) and Christopher Esposito: baby Eloise May born December 9, 2022.
Dr. Stanley Bohrer- Leaving a Legacy
Ben Sunding (Camp Program Manager) has been a beloved camp counselor and seasonal camp leader at Eagle’s Nest since the summer of 2019. Ben has led Added Adventures, Hantes and hilarious skits for Eagle’s Nest during that time. He graduated from Appalachian State University with a degree in Recreation Management. Since graduation, Ben has worked as a Field Instructor for Trails Carolina, and also as an educator for Kieve Wavus Education Inc. in Maine. Ben has a talent for making people feel good, and is excited to continue to support the mission of Eagle’s Nest Foundation.
Frank Burch (Assistant Camp Director) has moved to North Carolina from Texas where he most recently worked as the Recreation Manager for Parks and Recreation for the city of Meadows Place (there was a sugar glider behind him on our first Zoom chat). As the Rec Manager, he planned and directed a 10-week outdoor education day camp. He has also worked as a member of the leadership at Camp Champions. Some of his responsibilities at Champions included marketing, division leadership, and “COVID Czar.”
Frank also has a Masters in Fine Arts, Fiction, and has taught English to 10th grade students. Be sure to ask him about his Masters’ thesis.
