SUMMER
2020 Issue # 33
FOUNDING MOTHERS
The inspiring women behind Teton Family’s beginnings
WHAT’S ON HAND
Making the most of your farmers market bounty
COLLEGE APPLICATION PROCESS
Taking a backseat on your child’s right of passage
Teton Family TUR NS
®
ELEVATE YOUR
ADVENTURE VIEW HIKING TRAIL MAPS, O N - M O U N TA I N AC T I V I T I E S , A N D O P E R AT I O N T I M E S AT J AC K S O N H O L E . C O M 51
Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort delivers summer adventure for all in a majestic natural setting — just 12 miles from Jackson Hole on the way to Grand Teton National Park. Start at the base of Teton Village to access hiking trails that will transport you high above the valley to stunning panoramic views of the surrounding mountain range. Hike through wildflower-covered fields and rugged mountain terrain to experience the best views in Jackson Hole — all within the resort’s boundaries.
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1
SUMMER
2020 —
Issue # 33
Contents
10 — 08
A farm-to-fork party with Alta Elementary + Full Circle Education
ON THE FARM WyoFarm Composting closes the loop on the local food cycle
SLOW HOME Cloth diapering and early potty training (It's not as hard as you think)
IN SEASON Making and using flower essences 101
WELLNESS WIRED Teens speak out about the addictiveness of vaping
TABLE TALK #dadlife and it's impact on friendships
Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020
32
10
FOUNDING MOTHERS
13 16 18 24 28
On the Cover: Nothing screams “summer” more than fresh corn on the cob. Ever try it with basil butter? Check out our recipe on page 38. Photo by Paulette Phlipot 2
FEATURES
18 — 38 —
As Teton Family celebrates its tenth year in print, we honor the creative founding mothers and their inspiring way of doing life By Christina Shepherd McGuire
38 WHAT'S ON HAND =
WHAT'S FOR DINNER
A seasonal recipe guide for using harvest-fresh produce all summer long By Sue Muncaster
44 THE COLLEGE
APPLICATION PROCESS
Navigating your kid's college admissions process from the backseat By Molly Absolon
Photos: Rebecca Vanderhorst (top); Paulette Phlipot (center); Paulette Phlipot (bottom)
MOUNTAIN STYLE Trade the epic family outing for a Jackson Hole microadventure
TSD401.ORG Teachers jumped in to use new platforms to enhance
home-based learning this spring.
Photo by Abby Williams
Kylie Williams, a 2nd-grader at Victor Elementary School, was excited to interact online with her friends and teacher Ellen McGrath.
A safe and exceptional learning environment where career and college readiness are the cornerstones of a relevant and progressive education.
Organic Produce
Grab-n-Go Lunches
Artisan Bread
Juice & Smoothie Bar
Natural Wine • Beer
Locally Roasted Coffee
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Summer 2020 ¤ Teton Family
3
Welcome to
About ten years ago, I pointed my compass due north to align with what I felt was a higher calling. I had recently sold Habitat in Driggs, my retail business and my first baby, to Grand Targhee Resort, was mothering two young children, ages one and three, and was embarking on a professional journey as a writer (finally using that college education). At the time, I didn’t have the luxury of building a new business without a weekly paycheck, so I loaded my portfolio with jobs I acquired working online as a content creator. My first article for Teton Family magazine was inspired by my personal struggles of maintaining some sort of work-life balance while raising two young children. Based on personal experience, I put together a detailed plan for mothers who longed to ditch their restrictive 9-to-5 day jobs and pursue the career of their dreams. Months later, still taking my own advice and piecing together an untraditional work-life out of necessity, I got the call from Sue Muncaster, founding editor of Teton Family (see page 32). She explained that she was moving onto a new career and wondered if I was interested in taking on the editor role for the magazine. Seven years later, here I am with a publication that is ten years old. (Double digits, people!) It still fills me up when acquaintances say they read each edition cover-to-cover. And just the other day, I received a compliment on an article I wrote, reminding me I’m
still on the right path. But after ten years of serving our Teton community (and a few quarantined months reflecting on this fact), what I hope for the most is that Teton Family has inspired you to live your best life. Maybe you’ve tried a seasonal recipe that has turned into a family staple (more of those on page 38). Or maybe the advice of one of our featured professionals resonated with you as you have spent the last few months at home. Did we help you break out of a rut? Or make a life transition smoother by providing both a point of view and the resources you needed to jump (parents of college-bound seniors, see page 44)? I sure hope so. Because what you’ve given me, as both my friends and my community, is a safe place to hear all of your stories and to figure myself out. For that, I thank you. With this issue, not only do I celebrate coming out the other end of an intense global shift, but I also celebrate ten years of growing mountain families, ten years of intentional living (constantly a work in progress), and ten years of just plain keeping it real. So together, let’s point our arrows down the path we’re meant to take. Then we’ll check back in another ten, when we find the need to reinvent ourselves once again, as most mountain families do.
Contributing WRITERS Molly Absolon writes to support her outdoor habit. She’d rather be hiking, biking, or skiing in the mountains than just about anything else. A former outdoor educator and current mother of a college kid, Molly lives in Victor, Idaho, with her husband. Deb Barracato visited a friend in the Tetons 25 years ago and never left. She appreciates the flexible lifestyle that her work-from-home career as a corporate event planner, freelance writer, and editor allows. Deb’s free time is spent building quality memories with her son, Nathan. Amelia Mayer lives in Kelly with her husband and five children. She loves to get outside camping, biking, hiking, and skiing, and firmly believes that trail mix is a fraud if it doesn't include M&Ms. Follow her family's (mis)adventures and check out her helpful gear reviews at talesofamountainmama.com. A serial entrepreneur, Sue Muncaster inspires others to live a more fulfilling life through food, adventure, and connection. Currently chief adventure officer and director of sales at Snow King Mountain, she and her two kids are planning a “gap year” to work on a cookbook and develop a new website, tetonstrong.com (coming soon). 4
Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020
Christina
Tibby Plasse thinks poet Gary Snyder got it right when he said, “Find your place on the planet. Dig in. And take responsibility from there.” That’s why she hasn’t stopped writing since the fifth grade. Thankfully, living in Victor, Idaho, offers way too much outdoor stimulation to keep her chained to the computer for too long. Basking in the shadow of the Tetons since 1998, Jessa Smout can typically be found playing with her son on some local body of water or mixing up incredible libations. Jessa likes to share her passions through bespoke dinners, retreats, and special events, while creating beverages with love and intention. Melissa Snider is an elementary teacher/librarian who wants to know what you’re reading. Her favorite adventure companions are her two daughters and her husband, who also inspire her nonfiction writing. With both Adirondack and Rocky Mountain roots, Melissa’s happy place is lakeside with a great book. Poa Van Sickle is a Jackson mama who is passionate about spreading the wellness, food, and sustainability love. After becoming a mom, she was pretty certain she’d feed her kid healthy, but the gut-health advisor never dreamt of being equally passionate about what comes out the other end! Catch up with Poa at wydailyroots.com.
Editor photograph by Kisa Koenig
A note from the EDITOR
Here, above and beyond is close to the heart. www.stjohns.health
Summer 2020 ¤ Teton Family
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Engaging minds through team building activities, garden education, wilderness navigation and self-reflection
tetonfamilymagazine.com facebook.com/TetonFamilyMagazine
@tetonfamilymagazine
Publisher Kevin Olson Associate Publisher Adam Meyer Editor Christina Shepherd McGuire christina@tetonfamilymagazine.com Art Director Samantha Nock Copy Editor Richard Anderson
Summer Camp Dates:
Contributing Photographers Shannon Corsi Jamye Chrisman Cassidy Karkowski Dev Khalsa Julie Millard Paulette Phlipot Rebecca Vanderhorst Kathryn Ziesig
Session 1: Incoming Session 2: Incoming 4th & 5th graders 6th & 7th graders 7/27-7/31 & 8/3-8/7 8/10-8/14 & 8/17-8/21 8:30 - 4:30 Every Day drop off/pick up at Driggs City Park
Advertising Sales Kal Stromberg, kal@tetonmediaworks.com Ad Production Sarah Wilson, Lydia Redzich, Luis F. Ortiz, Heather Haseltine, Chelsea Robinson
$500 fee per session, includes snacks and lunch. Limit 12 campers / session *scholarships and / or subsidies may be available
Contact: Haley@TetonFullCircle.org (703) 431-1955 or visit TetonFullCircle.org
Distribution: Kal Stromberg, Jeff Young, Candace Whitaker Teton Family is published two times a year and distributed at more than seventy-five locations for free throughout the Tetons. To request copies, call (307) 732-5903. Visit tetonfamilymagazine.com for additional content and insightful blogs. © 2020 Teton Media Works, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this magazine’s original contents, whether in whole or in part, requires written permission from the publisher.
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Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020
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JACKSON HOLE
MICROADVENTURES (for locals and not-so-locals)
J
ackson is not only a playground for elite athletes. It also offers a multitude of family-friendly adventure opportunities. The hardest part, as most parents know, is just getting out the door. In our family, if we don’t have a solid adventure plan the day before, we waste our day at home. That said, all adventures don’t have to be an epic. Sometimes the smallest ones end up being the most meaningful. R (Rendezvous) Park Half- or Full-Day Adventure Visit R Park on a hot day to play in the water or lounge lakeside on the beach, rubbing shoulders with other families. Pack beach toys, floaties, and SUPs for hours of fun in the water. You can also embark on the short hiking trails along the lake, or saunter down the path and go fishing. Head to the park on Trout Tuesdays for bilingual fishing instruction, or celebrate the longest day of the year at the park’s Solstice Celebration, complete with music, food trucks, and a junior ranger program. Since the summer sun is intense in the mountains, plan on claiming shade early or bring your own tent or umbrella to create it. rpark.org Snow King Full-Day Adventure Snow King caters to kids of all ages and ability levels with many different activities within a close perimeter. Start your morning by hiking up the mountain on the well-marked route (M&Ms in hand to encourage little hikers up the fairly steep grade). This road is a gem, as you can quickly get in some great views and then turn around whenever the kids get weary. After you’re done, ride the Alpine Slide or the Cowboy Coaster (adults will dig this, too). Older kids will love the Treetop Adventure Park where they can harness up and clip into a ropes course high above in the trees. Round off your visit with the Amaze’n Maze and putt-putt golf. snowkingmountain.com 8
Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020
Mike Yokel Park Half-Day Adventure Mike Yokel Park is our family’s favorite destination because of its shade trees and covered picnic areas. Plus, it has an irrigation ditch running right through it. Pack along a bag of recycled materials for a STEAM-inspired boat-building project, then race your creations down the ditch. The playground here has challenging climbing structures for older kids and easier routes for younger ones. And while no bike paths lead directly to this park, it’s an easy jaunt from Snow King on foot or bike (just watch out for traffic). Make sure to go early in the summer, as the water flow subsides, and sometime ceases, late in the season. And pack out what you pack in—boats and all. tetonwyo.org/facilities/facility/ details/Mike-Yokel-Park-17 Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Half- or Full-Day Adventure Teton Village is bursting with activity each summer, and many of the festivities are free. If you’re feeling ambitious, take a hike up the mountain. Then head back down to the Pop Jets in the Village Commons to cool everyone off. This splash pad is located right next to a fantastic playground, complete with a shaded area for picnicking and snacks. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s sprawling Grand Adventure Park will test the skills of kids and adults alike with a ropes course, a climbing wall, and a bungee trampoline. A day pass gives you access to unlimited gondola rides, and you can access hiking trails of varying lengths. If you don’t want to spring for the pass, gondola rides are free after 4:00 p.m. And mountain biking families can use the Teewinot Lift for only $10 during Friday Night Bikes. jacksonhole.com
Photograph courtesy of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort
By Amelia Mayer
HOW TO FIT IT ALL IN •
•
•
Photograph courtesy of National Museum of Wildlife Art
• •
—
Get ready to go the night before, then plan the active part of the adventure early in the day. Following a hike, treat the kids to breakfast or lunch, using this as a bribe for those less enthusiastic. (We love pastries from the Bunnery or Persephone, or burritos from D.O.G.) Adventure while the kids nap. Pack up the stroller or bike trailer for an on-the-go nap. Fresh-air naps are the best and you can sneak in some quiet time for yourself while they’re at it. Go after dinner. Summer days are long here, and places are less crowded at night. Plus, end-of-day activities help kids sleep better. The Cowboy Coaster and Alpine Slide at Snow King stay open until 9:00 p.m. in the summer. Double (or triple) up! Plan an active adventure in the morning, go sightseeing in the middle of the day, and then enjoy a ride or mini-golf late in the afternoon. Be flexible. The beauty of microadventures is that you can embark on one with little notice or planning. Adjust your schedule to allow for weather, crowds, and family moods.
National Museum of Wildlife Art Half-Day Adventure Check out the National Museum of Wildlife Art—both inside and out. Start by walking the 3/4-mile sculpture trail before heading inside. The trail runs north to south, stretching along the bluff and overlooking the National Elk Refuge. See the museum’s calendar for a schedule of live music, theater, and yoga held trailside throughout the summer months.
NMWA Children's Discover Gallery
The Children’s Discover Gallery is a great place to let kids safely explore and a good rainy-day adventure, too. This area includes a hands-on artist’s studio, life-size diorama, animal costumes (our kids’ favorite), a reading nook, and a puppet theater. Splurge for lunch-with-a-view at Palate or pack a picnic for your wiggly kids and eat outside by the sculptures. wildlifeart.org tf
Summer 2020 ¤ Teton Family
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IT’S A FARM-TO-FORK PARTY! By Tibby Plasse // Photography by Rebecca Vanderhorst
I
t’s no secret that growing food at the forty-third parallel is incredibly difficult. However, since 2006, Full Circle Education has been providing a cornucopia of options for eating well and eating regionally, despite a chance of frost nearly every day of the year in the Tetons. The organization shares its mission by hosting community outreach events, cultivating partnerships with local schools, and building outdoor garden classrooms that connect students to their food source. “Spring hoop-house salad parties and fall harvest pizza parties are interwoven with a robust year-round garden curriculum where students grow to eat, eat to learn, and ultimately learn to eat,” says Travis Gay, Full Circle’s executive director. “This process fosters vital connections to the natural world and to our community.” Last spring, Full Circle and Alta Elementary School collaborated on a seasonal pizza project in which students discovered that there’s more than one way to grow food, 10
Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020
including some ways that are literally out of the box— or out of a container. Through the lens of the pizza party (students helped cook pizzas in a wood-fired oven provided by In Season Woodfired Pizza), the children learned how some local producers circumvent the Tetons’ challenging growing conditions by using indoor or seasonal options. They visited Morning Dew Mushrooms’ retrofitted garage and Clawson Greens’ shipping-container grow rooms in Tetonia, Idaho, Mad Mountain Greenery’s grow office in Driggs, Idaho, and Purely by Chance’s seasonal poultry operation in Alta, while tracking the commercial growing process from seed, spore, and chick to plate. These seemingly modest operations are producing a significant amount of food. For example, Clawson Greens has 20,000 plants in a 40-by-60-foot space, according to its owner, Dave Riddell. “I can grow a lot of food in a small place year-round because
I can control the climate of my containers,” he explains. “This also gives me the freedom to grow varieties that are not available at the store, such as bib lettuce and oakleaf.” A producer’s ability to provide volume for the local food scene benefits the community, and the students were given special insight into what it means to be a contributing wholesale producer. “I think they were surprised by how small a space we were crammed into,” says Delancy Hively of Mad Mountain Greenery. “But it’s filled entirely with living plants.” Growing in 10-by-20-inch trays with organic soil and grow lights, Mad Mountain Greenery’s microgreens operation reveals how easy it is to eat well outside of a tropical climate—or even without an outdoor growing space—and still have a variety of greens. Mad Mountain grows broccoli, fava beans, cabbage, pea, sunflower, and kale shoots. “We had the students plant pea shoots, because even if someone is iffy about vegetables, everyone enjoys For additional programming pea shoots,” says and events, visit tetonfullcircle.org Hivley. “They also grow fast.” Alta Elementary’s multiday food exploration project culminated in the preparation of a community meal at Warbirds Restaurant in Driggs. Students were assigned stations in the commercial kitchen area and received
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hands-on restaurant line training by executive chef and parent David Hugo, and his wife and local food advocate, Lauren. “We organized the students into stations by grade that included dough rolling, pizza assembly, dessert creation, salad prep, and front of the house,” explains Lauren. “I GROW, PICK, AND PROCESS especially enjoyed the YOUR OWN WITH salad station where I FULL CIRCLE EDUCATION taught students how to — safely slice and dice the May 30: Raising Backyard Chickens lettuce and vegetables June 6: Raising Meat Chickens we harvested from June 13: Processing Meat Chickens the greenhouse. It felt June 20: Edible Plant Walk particularly powerful July 18: “No-Till” Gardening for them to prepare the August 8: Hide Tanning foods they harvested October 24: Field Dressing your Hunt and grew.” October 30: Butchering your Kill Adults, can buy a freight container kit or grow pea shoots on their windowsill, too. Anyone, really, could plan a dinner party with friends and family members selecting grown and harvested ingredients for the menu. But what was the takeaway for the Alta Elementary students after they traveled from farm to fork? Fourth grader Annika Trotter said the field trip helped her to think differently about producers, but also about their school garden: “We worked hard all year growing our own garden, and then saw how other local farmers worked hard on their farms, too. It was so fun to take fresh, local food and make a delicious meal. I realized, when I am older, I want to grow my own garden.” tf
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Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020
On the
FARM
BUCKET by BUCKET WyoFarm Composting Grows Gold
By Deb Barracato // Photography by Kathryn Ziesig
S
conditions, and organic waste buried in oxygen-deprived landfills provides just the feast they need.
Curtis Haderlie did not set out to solve the existential threat of climate change when he started collecting food scraps for composting in 2018. He simply wanted to close the loop on a local food cycle. His farm, Haderlie Farms in Thayne, Wyoming, sells organic produce and grass-finished beef, pork, and dairy products directly to consumers in Teton, Lincoln, and Sublette counties. Collecting organic waste from those same customers seemed like a logical next step, one that would provide him with a plentiful source of clean, nutrient-rich compost for his fields. What he didn’t know is that his business brainstorm underlies what many climate experts call the best possibility for a near-term tool to stem global warming.
Composting biodegradable waste produces a nutrient-rich soil amendment without generating methane. Modeling done by Project Drawdown, a global research organization, shows implementing composting worldwide could reduce methane emissions by 2.3 billion tons over the next 30 years. Composting also enhances the carbon sequestration capabilities of soil, which occurs primarily through plant photosynthesis. Healthy, abundant vegetation and crops maximize this process, naturally pulling carbon dioxide out of the air before it can escape into the atmosphere.
ince the start of the Industrial Revolution in the mid-1700s, human activity has increased the total mass of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere—particularly carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels—by more than 40 percent. As a result, the average global temperature has risen 2°F, which may not seem significant but is enough to alter entire ecosystems. If current emissions and warming trends continue, climate scientists say, the effects could be catastrophic.
The Case for Composting According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, global food waste ranks near the top of the list of climate offenders. Food and other organic waste decomposing in landfills emits methane, a less plentiful but extremely potent greenhouse gas that absorbs heat more effectively than carbon dioxide, accelerating global warming. Methane-producing bacteria flourish in anaerobic
The United States Environmental Protection Agency estimates that in 2017, only 6.3 percent of the nearly 41 million tons of food waste generated in the U.S. was diverted from landfills for composting. In fact, more food reaches landfills and incinerators than any other single material in everyday trash, constituting 22 percent of discarded municipal solid waste.
WyoFarm Composting Out at the farm in Thayne, 10-foot-high piles of decomposing scraps generate enough heat to prevent snow from sticking in the winter. Stretching 30 feet across and hundreds of feet long, the heaps attest to the approximately 480 tons of food waste Haderlie collected in Teton County in 2019, which produced about 800 cubic yards of compost. For context, one cubic yard would cover a 10-by-10-foot garden with 3 inches of compost. Summer 2020 ¤ Teton Family
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Curtis Haderlie works a compost pile
While Haderlie theoretically on his farm in Thayne, Wyoming. supports backyard composting, he believes his commercial operation, called WyoFarm Composting (wyocompost.com), provides a more effective system given the extremes of our Teton environment. Compost requires a steady temperature of greater than 141 degrees, which is more easily generated in large piles, plus a steady flow of oxygen, maintained by consistently turning the material. Backyard compost piles here generally go dormant for the winter and never produce the heat required to process meat scraps, bones, and shells. They can also create a nuisance with neighborhood critters, both domestic and wild. Haderlie makes the commitment to composting easy for his farm customers by providing collection buckets, maintaining convenient drop-off locations in Jackson Hole three days a week, and offering the option of driveway pickup. An average family of four generally fills a 5-gallon bucket in a week, he says. Commercial output varies depending on size, but he provides 32-gallon green roller carts that are easy to distinguish from standard trash cans for commercial use. He can also provide bear-proof containers.
Composting requires a steady temperature of at least 141ºF. 14
Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020
When commercial customers first come on board, Haderlie finds it helpful to explain the process to the staff, emphasizing the importance of sorting the food waste from non-compostable trash. It’s much easier to separate when it goes into the bin than at the farm. Contamination such as glass, metal, or plastic doesn’t always become apparent until the composting process breaks down the food scraps enough to reveal materials that don’t belong. At that point, Haderlie says, he can effectively pull them out, but then he must add a run to the dump on top of his time spent sorting.
Composting Customers Haderlie introduced his composting business at the Jackson EcoFair in May 2018. Since then he has picked up about 130 residential and 60 or so commercial customers, including Jackson Hole Airport, St. John’s Health, and Four Seasons Resort and Residences. As the nutrition services manager and sustainability coordinator at St. John’s hospital, Lisa Smith, MS, RDN, diverts more than 21 tons of food scraps to WyoFarm Composting in a year. The kitchen staff readily accepted the task of separating the waste, she says. “They were already doing a good job of recycling, so it was natural to move to food composting.” They primarily collect food prep scraps from the kitchen, such as fruit skins and vegetable peels. Smith says it costs less to send waste to Haderlie than to have it taken to the county trash transfer station. And as an added benefit, it’s easier to wheel the collection bin out for pickup than to carry bags of trash to the dumpster. But the hospital’s motivation isn’t so much economical or operational as it is an expression of its corporate sustainability values. Out at the Four Seasons in Teton Village, Joseph Yarrow, director of purchasing and eco-team leader, cites a similar motive for separating food scraps. “Being one of the
larger employers in Teton County, we really want to leave as small a footprint as we can on the ecosystem,” he explains. By positioning roller carts in all dish stations, food prep areas, and the banquet section, they’re able to collect roughly 90 percent of their food waste, he says. Amelia Hatchard, owner of StreetFood @ the Stagecoach in Wilson and Butter in Victor, catered a party in February for Rendezvous Event Management that took place at the Jackson Hole Center for the Arts. It was the first time she used the WyoFarm service, and while it took some effort to source disposable plates, cutlery, napkins, and cups that would pass Haderlie’s strict standards for composting, the actual process of collecting the material onsite was quite easy, she says, since everything could go in the same bin. While Haderlie doesn’t currently market his compost as a farm commodity—“We’re in the business of selling food,” he says—he does sometimes swap buckets of scraps for buckets of finished compost. And he often waives the drop fee for farm customers, who are the folks he wants in the loop. He does foresee growth in the composting operation, but for now he uses the majority of what he produces in his own fields. “Compost for me is black gold.” tf
WYOFARM ACCEPTS • • • • •
—
Fruits and vegetables Breads, grains, and seeds Meat, dairy products, bones, and shells Coffee grounds, paper filters, and tea bags (without staples) Paper napkins, wax paper, and muffin liners
WYOFARM CANNOT PROCESS • • • • • • •
—
Plastics or Styrofoam Chemicals, metals, or glass Pet waste or diapers Non-organic materials Yard trimmings Plastic wrap, twist ties, stickers, and rubber bands Disposable serviceware labeled “biodegradable” or “compostable”
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Slow HOME
GOING DIAPER-FREE Cloth Diapering and Elimination Communication By Poa Van Sickle
T
he information overload that comes with planning for your first child can be overwhelming. Add to that the logistics of life, and who even has the capacity for cloth diapering or early potty training? But while still the norm, disposable diapers aren’t a necessary “part of the deal.” More and more parents are turning away from disposable diapers and toward alternative options, whether it’s to lessen their ecological footprint, to ease financial burden, or to honor their baby’s hygienic needs. Today, most parents don’t even start thinking about potty training until around age two, and it feels quite normal to have kids in diapers or pull-up training pants through age four and sometimes beyond. However, it was once the norm to have a kid out of diapers between 12 and 18 months of age. In fact, in 1957, 92 percent of kids were potty-independent by 18 months old. What occurred over the last few decades to cause a shift? As family structure began to change—with less family support at home and more moms in the workforce—our ideas and information about diapering and the diaper industry supported the use of 16
Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020
disposables. While disposable diapers do add some level of convenience, they aren’t without cost. It takes about 7,000 diapers (that end up in the landfill) at a cost of around $1,500 to $3,000, depending on the brand, to outfit one kid in disposable diapers for 3 to 3 1/2 years. So, what can working parents do? Cloth diapering, even when implemented part-time, can immensely reduce the environmental and financial burdens of diapering. While the initial investment of cloth diapers (around $500) can be hard to swallow, the savings over a course of one or more kids pays off. Gently used cloth diapers can be purchased on eBay or Facebook yard sale pages at a fraction of the retail cost, and their lifespan is good for three to four children, depending on how they’re cared for. Plus, the ease of modern-day cloth diapers far exceeds the diapers of the 1950s, or even what was available just 20 years ago. Gone are push-pins and plastic covers. Now, you’ll find all-in-one diapers with adjustable snap closures that grow with your child and are ready to use straight out of the washer and dryer. Another way to minimize diaper use, cloth or disposable, is to
practice elimination communication, or EC, which involves starting pottying communication before your child is even verbal. Learning to cue into your baby’s elimination signals and patterns leads not only to you learning when she needs to go and being able to offer her the potty—even from a newborn age—but it also develops a relationship of trust and a better honoring of her hygienic needs. EC practices can be adjusted to accommodate your household’s personality and can be implemented full-time from birth or used once or twice each day until 18 months of age. The ideal starting age to practice EC is anywhere from zero to 5 months old and goes something like this: First, learn your baby’s pottying cues and offer the potty when you know he will go. Then reinforce the experience with verbal cues as he’s going to the bathroom to teach about the idea of using the potty. It can be very simple and quite exciting when the communication begins to open up. You might be thinking, Well, this all sounds good in theory, but it seems completely overwhelming to put into practice! Many parents cringe at the thought of dumping loads (pun intended) of diapers into the landfill each year but are paralyzed by the idea of cloth diapering on top of all the other responsibilities. Not to mention adding the extra burden of EC into the mix. Enter local diapering and potty-training professional Kate Falk of Pottytunities in Jackson. Kate is passionate about educating and supporting parents on their diapering and pottying journeys, and finds solutions for each unique challenge that individual families face. Kate offers something for everyone. She holds a free quarterly support group at various locations around town where she gives tips and answers questions. She offers potty-training classes two to three times each year where she teaches a structured yet gentle parent-led potty-training plan, giving parents the accurate information and confidence to train in 3 to 14 days. Falk also is available for one-on-one consulting sessions when she can customize either EC or conventional potty-training plans to the family’s individual situation and needs. Doubts and fears about cloth diapering and EC abound, but it can be done. Take it from full-time working mom Neesha Zollinger, owner and instructor at Akasha Yoga, who raised her child by herself and used full-time day care: “I think the big thing to realize is that you don’t have to be perfect,” she says. “I used disposables when traveling. I let go of feeling like I needed to teach the day care EC cues. And I just did what I could.” She knows that parenting can be overwhelming enough and that we need to “allow ourselves to be good with ‘good enough’ and trust that our intentions will shine through the imperfections.” And, she says, washing diapers wasn’t complicated, and EC works even if your child care center doesn’t practice it. tf
RESOURCES
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•
• •
Learn more about Pottytunities’ support group, classes, and diaper bank program—a diaper-lending program for low-income families—at pottytunities.com. greenmountaindiapers.com offers many options of cloth diapers, wipes, and other accessories for purchase. Andrea Olson of godiaperfree.com offers an easy-to-use guide on practicing EC with your child.
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In
SEASON
GOOD VIBRATIONS A Beginner's Guide to Making and Using Flower Essences By Jessa Smout // Photography by Paulette Phlipot
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T
he overwhelming presence of the lilac bush welcomes summer to the Tetons. Its sweet perfume and vibrant array of colors communicates to everyone that sunny skies and warm temperatures are on the way. But I bet you didn’t know that, in addition to the flowers’ fragrant bouquet and soft lilac hues, it also has a vibrational energy—a powerful tool you can use to your advantage.
you feel so inclined, harness that energy in a flower essence and use it as potent medicine.
Pick a few blooms and put them in your bedroom, taste the sweet nectar from a stamen, or just stand next to the bush, listening to the hum of its pollinators to share in the lilac’s energy. And if
Flower essences go to work on our “subtle energy” body to gently ease us through difficulties. They can be used for emotional duress, physical ailments, and during times of great joy or growth. They are
Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020
What is a flower essence? “Flower essences are liquid extracts used to address profound issues of emotional well-being, soul development, and mind-body health,” according to Flower Essence Society, a reputable company that makes a wide variety of flower essence products.
effective on children, pets, and anyone else willing to utilize their delicate power. Dr. Edward Bach, an English physician, was the person first credited with using and extracting a flower’s essence. In the 1930s, he introduced a gentle way of healing to the health community by producing 38 base remedies aimed at specific conditions and labeled as “Bach Remedies.” Today, flower essences are used all over the world
by many health professionals.
remedies, as they are gentler.
Erin Borbet MS, a licensed acupuncturist and board-certified Chinese medicine practitioner in Victor, uses these remedies frequently with her clients and their children. Borbet likes how the essences integrate with her acupuncture practice, as both modalities work on the energy body. She uses the brand Lotuswei and prefers blends of multiple flower essences, as opposed to single-flower
Another local health professional, Dee Bupp, plant-matching consultant, author, and owner of Dragon Lady Teas in Jackson, makes her own essence blends using wildforaged and garden-grown flowers. And at Simply Health in Jackson, Sarah Felton and Jennifer Nelson-Hawks use a Bioresonance machine to find out which specific flower essences work best for a client.
IT’S A SMASH Makes 1 beverage
— This delightful “free spirit” (alcohol-free cocktail) can be enjoyed anytime. If you’re feeling frisky, add your favorite liquor for a light, easy-drinking cocktail.
—
3 ounces sparkling water ½ ounce honey simple syrup ½ ounce fresh lemon juice 2 ounces blackberries (or any berry), muddled 3 drops lilac flower essence
1. 2. 3.
Muddle the fruit in the bottom of the glass. Add ice and all the other ingredients. Stir or shake and enjoy!
Summer 2020 ¤ Teton Family
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DIY LILAC FLOWER ESSENCE —
Makes a 2-ounce dropper bottle and a 6-ounce mother tincture
— 1. 2.
3. 4. 5. 6.
7.
3 large dark purple lilac blooms Potable water Brandy, rum, or white vinegar Gather blooms from a pesticide-free lilac bush. Remove florets and place them in a glass jar or bowl with 3 ounces of water. Submerge as much of the flower as possible. Let the mixture sit uncovered in outdoor moonlight overnight. Carefully strain and retain the water; discard the blooms. Add 3 ounces of flower water to 3 ounces of your preservative of choice to make a “mother tincture.” Fill a 2-ounce dropper bottle with a 50:50 solution of filtered water and your preservative. Add 5 drops of the mother tincture to the bottle. Fill additional 2-ounce bottles or keep the mother tincture on hand for later use.
GET YOUR FLOWER ESSENCES LOCALLY
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• • • •
Jackson Whole Grocer carries Bach Remedies and Flower Essence Society blends. Barrels and Bins Market in Driggs carries Bach Remedies, including pet formulas. Simply Health carries Bach Remedies and other various flower modalities. Pet Place Plus carries Bach Rescue Remedy Stress Relief for Pets.*
* Always use pet-specific products for your pet. Most pet remedies are alcohol-free, and flower essence pastilles made for human use can contain xylitol, which is poisonous to pets.
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Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020
How do you capture the essence of a flower? When in bloom, flowers can either be cut from the plant or gently bent. The latter practice is preferred to cutting when a flower is protected or endangered. For example, Christ’s Indian Paintbrush is rare and protected in Wyoming and Idaho. Next, the flower is immersed in a bowl of clean water into which it makes its energetic imprint. This water is then diluted and preserved in brandy or another alcohol to make individual remedies. When making my own essences, I keep the steps simple. First, I source flowers that have not been sprayed, are growing in a healthy space, and won’t get me arrested if I pick them. I
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use only the cleanest available water and a glass bowl or jar. Depending on the flower and my intended use, I place the concoction under bright sunlight, outside on an overcast day, or in direct moonlight to “cure.” I let the flowers rest in the water for the appropriate time (less than 24 hours) and strain the water for use as a “mother tincture.” How do you choose the type of flower to use? Look around in your wild outdoor space or even in your garden. Use a bloom that consistently catches your attention. Maybe it’s the delicate petals of the sweet pea, the texture of the common dandelion, or the rich scent of a lilac. There are incredible resources
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Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020
ARUGULA HERB SALAD WITH GOAT CHEESE AND FIG BALSAMIC Makes one large salad
— This summer salad pairs well with BBQ chicken, potato salad, and fresh lemonade. Plus, it has a stunning presentation and the unforgettable flavor of fresh summer figs.
—
FOR THE SALAD 5 2 4 2 4 4 1
ounces arugula ounces dandelion greens, chopped tablespoons fresh basil, chopped tablespoons fresh mint, chopped tablespoons toasted pine nuts ounces goat cheese ounce nasturtiums, violas, and wild roses (can substitute any edible flower) FOR THE DRESSING: (makes 1 cup)
¼ cup fig balsamic 1 clove garlic 2 teaspoon large-grain mustard dash salt and pepper ½ cup olive oil 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Wash, strain, and pat dry the arugula and dandelion. Place them in a salad bowl. In a food processor or blender, add balsamic, garlic, mustard, and salt and pepper. Blend on low, slowly adding the olive oil. Drizzle 3 tablespoons of dressing onto the greens and gently toss. Add washed, strained, and chopped basil and mint. Crumble goat cheese on top, followed by toasted pine nuts and flowers.
online and reference books (such as Flower Essence Repertory: A Comprehensive Guide to North American and English Flower Essences for Emotional and Spiritual Well-Being; Flower Essence Society, 2004) to help guide you toward which flowers you might benefit from. Lilac flower essence is a must in my repertoire. It can help with grief or feelings of depression or melancholy, and is grounding in nature. I like to use it when I travel or when my schedule is hectic, as it helps me process new experiences. I also use it during really happy moments to draw from and store the energy for later use. Each summer, I find myself gravitating toward yarrow, as well, preferring the white blooms over the more colorful ones. Yarrow is helpful for setting boundaries and for those susceptible and empathetic to the energies that surround them. Rescue Remedy or Five-Flower Remedy by Bach are other essences I recommend for this use. They are incredibly supportive for mommas and kiddos, outdoor enthusiasts, and anyone else who finds themselves in stressful situations, either bodily or emotionally. tf
GREATER YELLOWSTONE
CRANE FESTIVAL September 14-19* Teton Valley, Idaho Crane Tours Workshops - Art Show
Community Celebration September 19 th at the Driggs City Center Plaza 11am to 5pm For more information on the week's activities go to: www.tetonlandtrust.org Come stay overnight in Teton Valley! *considering travel restrictions and social distancing requirements have been lifted photo credit: Anna Kirkpatrick
NEWS SIN
1909
Summer 2020 ¤ Teton Family
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Wellness WIRED
E-JUICE
SUB OHM RDA
SQUONKER BOX MOD
PERSUADED BY THE PUFF Teens Speak Out on Vaping
By Molly Absolon
O
ne night last year, Amy*, 17, was at a sleepover in Jackson with a bunch of her friends. In the middle of the night, one of the girls woke all the others, frantically accusing them of stealing her Juul and desperate for a hit. Amy’s friend was not the only teen craving her vape and the nicotine it delivers with each puff. According to Heather Franklin, a substance abuse therapist at the Curran Seeley Foundation in Jackson, teenage vaping rates have continued to rise nationally since 2017. 2018 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Federal Drug Administration show more than 3.6 million teens, including 1 in 5 high school students and 1 in 20 middle school students, used some kind of e-cigarette in the month before the survey was conducted. And in 2019, the organization Monitoring the Future reported a 5.6 percent increase in vaping among twelfth graders, a 6.1 percent increase in * The names of the teenagers in tenth graders, and a 5.6 this article have been changed to percent increase among protect their identity. eighth graders. Locally, there are no statistics on teenage vaping, but according to Deputy Andrew Roundy, the school resource officer for Teton County, Wyoming, there’s “nothing to suggest our numbers wouldn’t reflect the national trends.” “The number one concern about vaping comes down to nicotine 24
Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020
and the developing brain of a teenager,” Franklin wrote in an email. “Most vape juices contain nicotine, which is a very addictive drug … that changes the chemistry of the brain.” Teens engaging in risky or detrimental behavior is nothing new, as even they, themselves, are quick to point out. They argue that vaping is much better than smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, or using drugs. They also argue that the stories about lung disease and deaths resulting from vaping are misleading. One teen, a 15-year-old girl who says she does not vape, mentions the fact that there have been just 54 vaping-related deaths and only a few thousand lung injuries among the millions of people who vape, which she says is an indication of how safe the practice is. She argues that since all the cases of vaping-related lung disease have been linked to black-market vaping cartridges, which can contain THC and vitamin E acetate, it’s wrong to use those stories to try to frighten kids about vaping nicotine. “It’s like comparing apples to oranges,” she said. “And teens don’t like to be manipulated.” Most teens get into vaping—and experimenting with drugs, alcohol, or tobacco—through their friends. Someone they trust offers them a puff off a vape and they like it. Many vape flavors are fruity and sweet, very different from the harsh taste of a cigarette, so teens enjoy them. Plus, they like the buzz they get from a puff of nicotine. “My sister let me try hers, and after that I wanted one and never
stopped,” says Tieryn*, a 17-year-old high school senior. “Now it’s something that gets me through the day. It makes me feel better. … I’ve quit before, but then I’m around people doing it and I do it again. I’m not going to stop until I am in a different environment— somewhere where I am happier and less stressed out.” Tieryn admits she has had mysterious chest pains since she started vaping, and she says she has noticed that she’s less motivated to work out or get involved in extracurricular activities. “The health stuff freaks me out,” Tieryn says. “Sometimes I get sharp pains in my lungs or am randomly short of breath when lying down. That scares me, but my need for it overrides that fear.” Charlotte Reynolds, information officer for Wyoming’s Teton County School District No. 1, says the point teens raise about vaping’s usefulness in handling stress is valid.
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208-535-0440
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APV: An Advanced Personal Vaporizer is a large unit that features replaceable batteries and offers varied wattages and voltages Box mod: A large APV, shaped like a box. These models can contain large batteries, resulting in the most powerful vaporizer
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Margaret Huggins, M.D. Chris Allphin, M.D. Jacob Venesky, M.D.
Clouds: A term that describes vapor production Cloud Chasers: A user of e-cigarettes who attempts to blow large clouds of vapor Coil: The part of the atomizer that is used to heat the e-liquid Draw: The act of taking a puff or a hit off a vape
In 2019, the U.S. saw a significant increase in vaping
both nicotine and marijuana among 8th graders.
(Monitoring the Future, 2019)
Dripper Vape or RDA: A Rebuildable Drip Atomizer designed to drip e-liquid directly onto the coil. RDAs provide the biggest clouds and best flavor E-juice: The vape product made up of a base, a blend of propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin, flavoring, and usually nicotine ENDS: Electronic Nicotine Delivery System, the acronym the FDA uses to define vaping products Juice: A slang term for e-liquid Nic: The nicotine substance found in cigarettes and some e-liquids that gives smokers and vapers a buzz Noob: A slang term for someone who has just begun their journey down the vaporizer rabbit hole Sub ohm: An RDA with low resistance that can be paired with a more powerful mod to increase the size of the vapor cloud Squonker: A special type of vape mod with a built-in bottle containing e-liquid that can be pumped directly into the atomizer on demand Throat hit: The sensation of vapor hitting the throat Trick vapers: Vapers who spend hours learning to make smoke rings and other shapes with their vaper clouds. Trick vapers compete professionally and post videos on YouTube
It’s time to talk to your kids about vaping Ask them what they know. Listen with respect, and offer them the facts. Please contact Curran Seeley Foundation 307-733-3908 with any questions or concerns. Summer 2020 ¤ Teton Family
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with it,” Reynolds says. “It’s important when you talk to your kids to recognize that they are under a lot of stress. We can help give them ideas and possible solutions for coping with it that aren’t harmful.
These natural highs make a person feel good and calm. If a teen vapes, it will be harder for them to achieve a natural high because nicotine has overridden their dopamine circuitry.”
“Kids can have a lack of awareness,” she says. “They are not invincible, but that’s hard for kids to understand developmentally. It’s hard for them to realize they are not immune, and what happens to one kid could happen to them.”
Rationally, most teens recognize that vaping is not great for them, but they are convinced that in the grand scheme of potentially dangerous things, it’s pretty harmless. Adults, however, are more worried. In addition to nicotine’s impact on a teen’s developing brain, researchers are concerned that some components in e-liquid, vape Curran Seeley works with the Teton County School District to juice, or nic salts may become toxic when heated into vapor. Most deliver a prevention curriculum to fourth through ninth graders. The lessons, Franklin says, e-liquids contain propylene cultivate resistance and coping glycol, a food additive that skills to manage pressures and is generally considered safe emotions. At the high school, for human consumption, or “Sometimes I get sharp pains in my lungs all ninth graders are required vegetable glycerin, which is or am randomly short of breath when to take a health class that typically made from soybean, lying down. That scares me, but my need covers topics ranging from coconut, or palm oil and is used stress management to healthy in skin care, hair care, and for [vaping] overrides that fear.” relationships, sex education, and – Tieryn*, a local 17-year-old high school senior other personal care products. healthy eating habits. As kids The unknown factor is how progress through school, staff heating these components and the additives that give vapes their flavors changes their chemical keeps an eye on them, looking for individuals who may need more composition and affects people’s lungs. support, but some students inevitably fall through the cracks. It’s the role of parents to catch this. “As a school administrator, talking to students caught with a vaporizer, we focus on the health aspect of what’s going on,” says Dan “Teens are vulnerable because of the many changes that they Abraham, the assistant principal at Jackson Hole High School. “What are experiencing in their bodies and their worlds,” Franklin says. concerns me is there is a perception it is totally safe. But people should “The key to stress reduction for teens is finding natural highs. take it seriously. We just don’t know how safe these products really are.” Exercise, deep breathing, meditation, yoga, team sports, and social Of course, we all know most teenagers do not respond well to engagements with peers generate dopamine releases in the brain.
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Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020
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being told point blank not to do something, and so the challenge for schools and parents is to find a way to bridge the age-old generation gap to dissuade teens from vaping. “I find the best tactic is to treat kids with respect,” says Deputy Roundy. “I try to treat them like a person. I hold them accountable for their behavior when they get in trouble, but it’s not my job to hammer them. I want to help them redirect inappropriate thought patterns and behaviors toward appropriate ones. Surprisingly, most kids really respond well to that.” For parents worried about whether their children are vaping, professionals and teens agree the key is to start with a nonjudgmental conversation like the ones Roundy has with the kids who have been busted. “Just be bold and start somewhere,” says Matthew Hoelscher, the principal of Jackson Hole Middle School. “You can’t be like, ‘Oh, we had the “drug talk” or we had the “sex talk,” and now we’re done.’ You have to have multiple conversations over the course of time.
• • • •
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“Start with something like, ‘I saw some kids vaping on the gondola and it kind of disgusted me; do you see that much?’” Hoelscher continues. “‘Has anyone ever offered you one? Are you curious about it?’ Once the conversation starts, it’s easier to bring up the topic. Our kids are trying to navigate a difficult world—whether it’s social media, sex, or whatever— and if we don’t have the conversation with them, they will seek it out elsewhere. We need to be brave and not be afraid of a hard conversation.” Tieryn’s advice for parents is similar: “Get on [your kid’s] level and talk to him without anger. Sit down, have a heart-to-heart, ask him, ‘What can we do to fix this?’ But go slowly. It’s an addiction. … Parents have to be patient.” tf
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Table TALK
MANDATING THE “MAN DATE” By Melissa Snider // Photography by Shannon Corsi
T
his article is my husband’s fault. He suggested I pitch a piece about fathers and friendship, and now here I am, stuck in the writer’s seat. Guys, this one’s for you!
But first I should say that I actually made friends after I had babies. Between naps, I swaddled up my first daughter and hit the circuit: Mommy and Me yoga (still a lot of crying and blowouts, just not at my house), music classes (mouthing the shaker eggs), swimming (insert air quotes) … you get the picture. Moms check each other out and exchange numbers when it’s a match. And as it turns out, play dates are more for us than the kids in those early days. Meanwhile, my husband continued life as usual but with a tiny new human in tow. (Not to mention an overly emotional and intellectually understimulated wife.) He had a strong sense of duty and wasn’t seeing much of his friends. Mostly, it was I who was tagging him “it” as soon as he walked in the door after work so I could go exercise or sleep. I was, and am, so grateful for his partnership as we parent our girls, now ages five and eight. Instead of momsplaining all this to you, however, let’s talk to the experts. I sat down with an unscientific sampling of fathers who collectively parent eight children between the ages of four and eleven and discussed #dadlife and how it impacts friendships over time. Here’s what they had to say: 28
Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020
Richard & Claire GENEROUSLY PRESENT
On the “Limbo” Phase (ages 0 to 5) Spoiler alert: Having a baby rocks your world! “The first three years, you don’t have much energy, time, or attention to devote to anything else,” says Jackson dad Carl Shuptrine, who found himself ahead of the having-kids curve. He left his friends wondering why he couldn’t join them whenever for whatever any more. “‘I’ve got some other responsibilities,’ I’d say. And they were like, ‘Huh? You mean, other than yourself?’” Jackson father Andy Cavallaro says the birth of his first baby left him in limbo, trying to find a balance between “still feeling like an adventurous person and being a good parent.” While his long-distance close friendships didn’t change, local friendships did. “When most of the minutes of your day are planned out, it’s really important to have that time to connect with [other dads] that can understand what you’re going through,” he says, adding that this pertains to just about any time or situation in your life. “It changes your ability to be as present with people as you once were,” says my husband, Jason Snider, noting that our core group of friends is made up mostly of couples without children. “We value those friendships. They’re people we want to keep up with, but we don’t see them nearly as much.” “Before kids, our friends were all about having fun,” says Sean Stauth. He and his wife naturally started spending time with different groups of people after having their first baby. At the time, he was living in San Francisco and working in Silicon Valley, where many people he knew valued work above everything else. Still, his priorities shifted after the birth of his daughters. “It was hard to build meaningful, empathetic relationships with people who weren’t in my same [stage of life].” On Maintaining Friendships Sean says he and his wife love hanging out with friends who share their values of living a healthy, positive life. “Friends become ‘family friends,’” he says, pointing out that a lot of their social life is a shared experience now. “Similar likes and dislikes used to drive my relationships,” says Andy,
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“whereas now, my children’s connections drive a lot of the friendships we have.” He intentionally has to make time to see the people he used to ski with 50 to 70 days a year, and notes that carving time out of your daily routine to do so can seem impossible, but it’s important. The executive director of the Community Safety Network, Andy also facilitates “The Manel,” a men’s group that confronts traditional 30
Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020
Front row (left to right): Charley Farnum, Beezie Ordonez, Taggart LaTorre, and Emmalou Rivers Back row (left to right): May Farnum, Ellis Smith, Henry Ordonez, Carlos Ordonez, Brad LaTorre holding Teagan LaTorre, and Rafe Rivers holding Rowan Rivers—all of Victor, Idaho
masculine roles and offers men a safe space to have important conversations. “I’ve made a point to have relationships that weren’t just based on doing [an activity] together. My relationships [now] are more important than just having a climbing partner.”
number of close guy friends when they need to vent or process something. Jason says men just don’t work that way. “I don’t know if there are many dads who want to talk and be open like that—to share things that are challenges,” he says.
Unlike women, most men don’t call or text their dad, brother, or any
“My experience is that guys will share, but only if they’re together,
... it is hard. It’s different.” “I always tell dads that it’s the hardest, most rewarding work you’ll ever do,” says Carl. “I’ve really embraced just being a dad,” says Andy. “And I don’t mean I’m ‘just’ a dad. I mean that it’s the best thing ever to be a dad.” Having kids is very much a “before” and “after” experience, and like any relationship, it’s never static. “At this point, Kelly and I are feeling much more freedom,” says Carl, whose daughters will enter fourth and sixth grade this fall. Sean acknowledges the newfound independence that comes as kids get older as a time to rediscover who he is. So whether you’re contemplating becoming a father, anticipating the birth of a child, or in the weeds with a newborn, take heart: A new baby can be wildly disorienting, but just like most things in life, it’s a learning process. doing something,” says Carl, “if you’re going camping or hiking. … But I’m not just going to call Sean because I had a tough day.” While a men’s hangout might not be the heart-to-heart experience female partners enjoy, reaching out and seeing friends has real benefits. “Every now and then, you just need a little mental departure,” he adds.
On Embracing Fatherhood Goodbye, uninterrupted conversations. See ya later, hot meals and deep sleep. Parenting isn’t for the faint of heart. But don’t despair— the flip side of the coin is pretty amazing.
“Be open to other dads who are trying to figure it out, too,” says Andy. “You gain so much when you have children, but you lose part of yourself.” Then he offers a slight correction. “You don’t lose it—but you have to redefine it. It takes a while.”
“Parenting is a totally different set of skills and challenges,” says Jason. “As much as you don’t want to say that it’s hard
So reach out, reflect, and embrace the crumb-filled roller coaster you’ve strapped yourself into. Life is just better with friends. tf
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Summer 2020 ¤ Teton Family
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By Christina Shepherd McGuire 32
Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020
After ten years, and thanks to four innovative ladies with an original vision, Teton Family magazine is still dishing up content that excites, informs, and creates a sense of closeness in our mountain community. I like to call it our go-to book for Teton locals (or anyone yearning to be a local), and it all started with an idea centered on a love of food.
“I was really getting a grasp on the local Teton food culture,” explains Paulette Phlipot, photo editor and co-founder of Teton Family. In 2008, Phlipot was traveling back and forth from Sun Valley, Idaho, to Wyoming (her former home) to promote A Taste of Wyoming, a cookbook that included photos she shot the year before
Photography by Kathryn Ziesig
ave you ever had a great idea that you should have, could have taken action on? Something that fed your soul and aligned with your vision of the “perfect job”? Did you bring it to fruition? Or did you let that creative energy peter out into the abyss of life’s overwhelming to-do list, nervous that the task of actually making your idea work was insurmountable? Well, I’ve got a success story for you and, it’s one that I’m proud to be a part of.
and emphasized that the growing Jackson Hole food scene. “I joined the board of Slow Food in the Tetons, and that’s where I met Sue.”
Last fall, Muncaster held a cooking class for Slow Food in the Teton’s Farm to Fork Festival where she debuted her shakshuka recipe on page 40 (photo on left).
“At the time, I was a young mother trying to cobble together a bunch of work,” remembers Teton Family’s founding editor Sue Muncaster. “I was a freelance writer and had just started the organization Slow Foods in the Tetons—all while tending a pregnancy. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking.” The two got together at a photoshoot for Slow Foods and emerged Summer 2020 ¤ Teton Family
33
with an idea to start a Teton-centric food magazine. They even looked into purchasing an Edible magazine franchise. But with very little publishing knowledge between them, the ladies decided to circle in Nancy McCullough-McCoy, owner and publisher of Powder Mountain Press in Driggs, as she had the pulse of the local magazine scene. McCullough-McCoy welcomed Phlipot and Muncaster’s idea, but cautioned against a food-based magazine. She felt the Teton area was not yet robust enough to support such a publication. Instead, she pitched a magazine that would appeal to all types of families and that included pets and grandparents, too. “Launching Teton Family gave me the opportunity to work with a new group of talented women, as well as create a consumer magazine based on the expanding meaning of family,” says McCullough-McCoy. “Giving women the opportunity to design, photograph, write, and market Powder Mountain Press’ publishing products always brought me great joy.” A voracious reader on alternative parenting, food, and the environment, Muncaster came to the group’s original vision meeting with a bunch of concepts—ideas that would eventually form the magazine’s brand. “We didn’t even talk about branding ten years ago,” Muncaster chuckles. The team carefully cherry-picked article topics that best represented their mountain culture. Muncaster designed departments meant to educate and assist busy Teton families. Meanwhile, Phlipot worked alongside Sage Hibberd, current co-publisher and art director at Powder Mountain Press, to come up with a logo and a cover layout. They decided on recycled paper and a saddle-stitched binding for the magazine—a
concept similar to today’s publication—and in the fall of 2009, the first Teton Family magazine hit the shelves, complete with four cover images, an iconic design created by Hibberd. An early email from Muncaster captures the group’s momentum: You rock, Paulette! Can we just print all these cover ideas for the promotional piece? We'll have no trouble getting advertisers! Seriously, I think a variety of photos gives a pretty good visual of what we envision for the project. Still pregnant. :) Sue In 2012, Muncaster graciously handed her editor’s hat to me, a freelance writer at the time, to pursue her dream of building and operating a high ropes course, the Treetop Adventure Park at Snow King Mountain. Today, with Kevin Olson and Teton Media Works as the publisher, the original “branding” the founding mothers stumbled upon continues to make the magazine fly off shelves, as locals excitedly anticipate its seasonal release. Phlipot’s photos still compliment the food-related articles and often land a spot on the cover.
Phlipot no longer resides in the Mountain West, but her heart and creativity never left. What was first viewed as a temporary relocation to Half Moon Bay, California for her husband’s work may now be permanent—a move that aligns perfectly with her priorities. “I aim to feed my family healthy every day,” says Phlipot, noting that this is the one thing, without exception, that
Photography by Paulette Phlipot
34
Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020
Photos: Paulette Phlipot (top); Cassidy Karkowski (bottom)
must be done daily. She takes this job seriously, as nearly every night (kid and work schedules aside) she prepares a meal from scratch using only whole food and local ingredients. “I pay attention to sourcing food and the way it’s prepared,” she says. “I get asked all the time: ‘How in the world do you pull off all the food you make?’” To which she replies that her recipes are in no way gourmet, just fresh. “I'm always thinking one or two days ahead, and I have huge jars of staples,” she says. “Everything is super simple. Nothing is overly complicated. I use lots of fresh herbs and spices to elevate the flavor and health benefits of each meal.” Phlipot uses this model—simple and not overly complicated—in her creative work, too. She currently contributes to five magazines: She’s the photo director for PUNCH magazine and the food editor for Big Life Magazine, and she freelances for Teton Family, Edible Silicone Valley, and the Sun Valley Property News. Phlipot’s “test kitchen” and home studio overflows with food made from fresh, local, and sustainable
ingredients, and her work represents a celebration of her life’s importance. When asked if she’s working her dream job, which includes her side hustle of producing fine art for residential and commercial spaces (foodasart.com), Phlipot responds, “I really do love my work. It brings all of my personal
Phlipot’s work represents a celebration of her life’s importance—to feed her family healthy everyday.
interests—health, food, and farming— together. … Teton Family especially compliments what I am trying to learn every day on my own, anyway.” Being honest with herself about the work she takes on and being clear about her Summer 2020 ¤ Teton Family
35
Sue Muncaster
priorities allows Phlipot to successfully combine her creative work with motherhood. She advises other mother creatives to “keep things simple, especially as your kids get older. You’re never going to get everything done every day, but if you know what it is that makes you happy, make it your priority—that’s what really matters.”
Muncaster misses the brainstorming that comes with editing—the part where you “filter a gazillion different ideas onto a plan and come up with something, by deadline, that
Nancy McCullough-McCoy
you can love and sell.” To this day, she still likes to go back and look at all of her old ideas. This self-proclaimed “serial entrepreneur” takes the same mentality into her current role as the director of sales at Snow King Mountain, a gig that materialized out of her five-year contract running the Treetop Adventure Park. Muncaster’s typical day now goes something like this: She spends her morning working with getyourguide.com, an online tour and attraction website, then she meets and welcomes visiting groups. On the day of our interview, it was a bunch of Arapahoe
REMEMBER YOUR
Reusable Bags! AT THE GROCERY STORE AND ALL OTHER RETAILERS
36
Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020
Sage hibberd
Photos left to right: Dev Khalsa, Kathryn Ziesig, Susan Lykes, Jamye Chrisman
Paulette Phlipot
Middle School kids from the Wind River Reservation coming to Snow King for ski lessons. In between, Muncaster tends to customer service and point-of-sale needs, sells tickets, and schedules employees. It’s a dynamic job—one she thrives in.
Jackson Hole
Classical Academy
“[Snow King] is such a small organization. We call it Wyoming’s oldest ski area that’s still a startup,” says Muncaster. “All the managers here are really involved in everything. I could be helping run a ski school program one day and then making sure the tables are clean in the King’s Grill the next.” In line with most Teton locals, Muncaster achieves balance by doing something fun every day. She prioritizes time in the morning to write, think, and get organized, noting that when she is refreshed and exercised she can better show up as a parent and an employee. Every Sunday, Muncaster detoxes from the computer, too. “No email. No social media,” she says. “I wake up and just read books and magazines. Or I force myself to sit down and watch a movie with my kids.” Muncaster jokes about currently having five ideas on a napkin. They include writing a cookbook, launching a community-focused sharing website, and hosting cooking classes, like she did last year for Slow Food’s Farm to Fork Festival. It’s these ideas that she’ll take along with her as she embarks on a gap year abroad with her kids this fall (pending travel restrictions). First, the family will head to California to harvest grapes at Muncaster’s cousin’s small-scale winery, Sumner Vineyards. Then they will go on to Britany, France, where the same cousins bought a 19th century estate that needs renovation. Mariela, age 17 and a senior at the Mountain Academy in Jackson, will use this year as time off before college, and Nico, age 11, will attend school online. But until they embark, Muncaster will carry out her duties at Snow King while continuing to inspire her community, hoping to come back on board with the resort when she returns. While Muncaster and McCullough-McCoy are off gallivanting around the world (McCullough-McCoy is now retired and traveling the U.S. and Canada with her husband Mac, and their Airstream, bikes, kayaks, and dog), and Phlipot and Hibberd are still captivating the Teton community—and beyond—with their work, I’ll be here manning the ship of the decade-old publication that these lovely ladies started, one that continues their mission of community invigoration. “I learned a long time ago as a volleyball coach, the best thing I can do is give people skills and then walk away,” says Muncaster. “I call it ‘founder's syndrome.’ I love seeing the progress Slow Foods has made and I love seeing what has happened with the magazine, too. For me, [the success of Teton Family] is physical evidence that you can take a bunch a random ideas and really make something out of it.” tf
We would love to connect with you and share why this may be the right option for your family.
Schedule a personal tour with Ms. Manjola Koci: admissions@jhclassical.org 2500 S Park Loop Rd, Jackson, WY 83001
307-201-5040 • jhclassical.org Summer 2020 ¤ Teton Family
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WHAT S ON HAND
=
WHAT S FOR DINNER Maximizing Your Farm Share and Farmers Market Bounty
T
By Sue Muncaster // Photography by Paulette Phlipot
wenty years ago, I would daydream about living solely on the plants that thrived in my Teton Valley garden— sorrel, rhubarb, garlic, lettuce, and raspberries–-then I could eat local all summer long. These days, though, cooking and eating in season is so much easier thanks to our ambitious regional farmers and ranchers who provide us an astounding variety of produce, cheese, and meat. In fact, the only excuse not to eat local in the summer is if you find yourself wondering what the heck to do with the bounty. For a few seasons, I held the sweet job of farm-share cook for both Full Circle and Snowdrift farms in Victor. Each morning, I would 38
Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020
show up to a pile of whatever crop peaked that day and was tasked with pulling together a rewarding meal for ten ravished co-workers. In the barn was a well-stocked pantry full of bulk grains, beans, pasta, oils, dried herbs, and nuts and seeds. I quickly learned how to wing it. A good understanding of which fats, herbs, and spices contribute to which ethnic flavors, a handful of recipes, and the confidence to substitute whatever I found at the farmers market or in my CSA (community supported agriculture) share has allowed me to make the most of what is in season. And you can, too, by stocking your pantry with a few essentials and turning your farm share’s main ingredient into a yummy recipe. tf
NOTE:
You can substi tute fresh oregano, thyme, sage, or lemon verbena for basil.
Here are a few of my favorites.
CORN ON THE COB WITH BASIL BUTTER I’ve always been a big pesto fan. Then I discovered basil butter. Now it’s my go-to for turning anything boring special. In addition to corn, try a dollop on a grilled steak, mix it with roasted veggies, or simply toss the butter with hot pasta. Makes 3/4 cup butter 6 ears fresh corn on the cob 2 tablespoons garlic (10 cloves or 5 scapes) ½ cup basil ½ cup unsalted butter, softened Flaky sea salt to taste (if needed)
— 1. 2. 3.
Bring a large pot of water with a pinch of salt to a boil on the stove. In a food processor (or with a mortar and pestle) puree fresh garlic and basil. Add ½ cup of softened butter and blend well. Adjust salt to taste.
4.
5. 6.
Once the water is boiling, add corn and return to a boil. Turn off the heat immediately and allow corn to sit in the water for 5 minutes. Strain. Dress hot corn with a slather of butter. Store unused butter in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Summer 2020 ¤ Teton Family
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SHAKSHUKA
Shakshuka means “all mixed up” in Arabic. And rightfully so, as this dish is my go-to for using up an endless variety of fresh (or beyond prime) produce. Make a big pot and use it as a spicy substitute for tomato sauce on pasta, pizza, or polenta. Serves about 6.
—
FOR THE SAUCE
¼ cup olive oil 1 large yellow onion, peeled and chopped 3 to 5 mild bell peppers, seeded and sliced 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and sliced 10 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 1 teaspoon paprika 10 or more ripe tomatoes, seeded 3 to 5 stems fresh basil, cilantro, oregano, sage, thyme, tarragon, or rosemary (whatever’s on hand) 1 bay leaf ½ to 1 cup water or chicken broth Salt and pepper 6 or more fresh eggs FOR THE TOPPINGS AND SIDES Tangy cheese, chopped herbs, avocado, pickled jalapenos or onions, thinly sliced radishes, crusty bread or tortillas. 1. 2.
3.
4.
Substitute one 14.5-ounce ted, can of fire-roas plus s oe diced tomat n of ca one 28-ounce r the fo s whole tomatoe s. oe at fresh tom
40
5.
It’s OK to th row chunky prod in uce; everything g ets pureed in th e end.
Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020
6.
7.
Preheat oven to 375°F. In a heavy saucepan, sauté the chopped onion in olive oil. Add all other ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes or until produce is soft. (Add a little water or chicken broth if the sauce gets dry.) Remove the pan from the heat; remove the bay leaf and woody herbs; whizz with an immersion blender until smooth. Adjust the salt and pepper to taste. Wipe a 12- or 14-inch cast iron pan or oven-proof casserole dish with cooking oil. Pour in the sauce. Create 6 (or more) small wells in the sauce. Crack an egg into each well. Spoon sauce around the sides of the eggs to contain them. Cook for 8 to 12 minutes, removing the pan when the eggs are opaque and the yolks have risen but are still soft and jiggly. Sit to cool. Spoon each egg with some sauce into a bowl. Top with your your choice of fixings and serve with crusty bread or tortillas.
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According to celebrity chef Samin Nosrat, “It's the way acid contrasts with other tastes that heightens our pleasure in foods.” This brine mellows the chilis so you can toss them liberally into your morning eggs, over a pizza, or on a taco bowl. Makes 2 pints. 1 2 1½ 1 2 2 1. 2. 3. 4.
—
pound jalapenos or Red Fresno peppers, stemmed and sliced (seeds are OK!) large garlic cloves cups distilled white vinegar cup water tablespoons kosher salt tablespoons sugar
Pack the sliced peppers and garlic into two clean, hot, pint-size canning jars, leaving ½ inch of headspace. In a small, heavy saucepan bring the vinegar, water, salt, and sugar to a boil. Pour the hot brine over the peppers, leaving ¼ inch of headspace. Cover, cool, and refrigerate for up to 3 weeks.
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I like to make this crisp recipe on raft trips in a Dutch oven. The combination of sweet and tart is a great kickoff to the summer BBQ season, and virtually any combination of berries or summer fruit can be substituted. Serves 12.
—
FOR THE CRUST 1 cup white flour ½ cup whole wheat flour 1 ½ cups rolled oats ¾ cup brown sugar 1 cups butter, cold ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon cinnamon ½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
1.
2. 3.
4. 5. 6. 7.
8. 9.
42
STRAWBERRY RHUBARB CRISP
FOR THE FILLING 1 pound rhubarb, chopped (approx. 4 cups) 1 cup strawberries 1 cup white or brown sugar 1 tablespoon orange or lemon peel (optional) 1 teaspoon vanilla 3 tablespoons cornstarch ¼ cup water
FOR THE FILLING In a heavy saucepan combine the first 5 ingredients. Over medium heat, stir constantly until rhubarb releases liquid. Bring to a heavy simmer and cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently. In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the water. Add it to the rhubarb mixture and continue to cook until thickened. Set aside. FOR THE CRUST Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a food processor with a pastry cutter, mix all ingredients together until crumbly. Butter a 12-inch casserole dish, Dutch oven, cast iron pan, or 13-by-9-inch baking pan. Press about ½ of the crust mixture into the bottom of the pan, evening it out. Pour the rhubarb mixture over the top, spreading evenly. Sprinkle the remaining crust mixture over the top. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the top is brown and the filling is bubbly. Cool, cut, and serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Teton Family
When using a 13-by-9-inc h pan, the cri sp will turn out more like b ars.
You can halve the topping mixture and prepare the e crisp without th bottom.
FROM THE FARM
TO FORAGE
WHAT S IN SEASON?
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I
bet that, like me, you know where most of your friends went to college. That strikes me as odd, really. Especially when I think about the small part of our lives spent there. What makes those years so important to our identity? And is that importance even warranted? I found myself exploring these questions this past year as my daughter, Avery, navigated the college admissions process.
For me, Avery’s acceptance process was stressful, complicated, and
44
Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020
fraught with emotion—most of it self-imposed. It was I who worried if we should hire a tutor to up her SAT and ACT scores. I pushed her to volunteer to bolster her service hours, worried that she didn’t have enough extracurricular activities, titles, or championships, and was not fluent in Mandarin. I wanted to edit her essays, and I hounded her about deadlines. But she, for the most part, ignored me. So I tiptoed around, asking questions and, I’m afraid, nagging her. I just wanted her to succeed. But was it for me or for her?
By Molly Absolon // Illustrations by Julie Millard It’s hard for involved parents to take a hands-off approach to the college application process. There is an incredible amount of peer pressure, whether we like to admit it or not. I watched a friend hire a tutor and immediately thought I needed to do the same. I heard about a parent who used an online essay service to help her child polish his application and thought, “Maybe I should look into that.” I worried about the schools my daughter was considering, wondering whether she was shooting too high, too low, or not spreading her search net wide enough.
Much of my worry stemmed from my own upbringing. I’m the product of an East Coast boarding school and graduated from Yale College. Back in the day, all I thought about was trying to get into an Ivy League school. The message was clear: The better the school, the smarter, cooler, and more likely you were to succeed. Or at least that’s what I heard. The thing is, statistics don’t back this up. A study published in 2002 by Alan Krueger, a Princeton University professor, found that Summer 2020 ¤ Teton Family
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Expert college admissions advice customized for your student’s individual needs.
by the time college graduates reached their thirties, they earned the same amount regardless of what school they attended. Still, Americans remain obsessed with the prestige of the schools they or their offspring attend. And these days, top-tier schools admit less than 8 percent of applicants. Against such odds, it’s important to ask yourself, and your kid, if the competition is worth the stress. The Harvard Graduate School of Education offers some guidance:
Focus on your teen. It’s all too easy to compete with other parents or to view our child’s college choice as a marker of our own success. We may push our child toward a specific college or major to live out our own unfulfilled dreams or to reproduce our college experience. All these things put stress on our teens and may cause them to compromise their values. To avoid this pitfall, pause and listen to your child. Take time to examine your personal motivations before you begin the college search. For me, this meant thinking about why I put such credence on the name of a particular school. By recognizing my bias, I could be clear with my daughter about where I was coming from and how my background influenced my opinion. This enabled us to disentangle my dreams and desires from hers. Michelle McAnaney
Be ethical. When tens of thousands of extraordinary kids vie for a few spots at an elite school, it’s hard to figure out how to help yours stand out. We’ve all heard about parents writing their kids’ essays, paying for special consideration, getting psychiatrists to falsely diagnose their teen with learning challenges so they get extra time on exams, etc. These shortcuts send a disturbing message to our kids that it’s okay to cheat and that success can be bought.
1-800-207-4305 www.thecollegespy.com michelle@thecollegespy.com
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This is a real concern. According to several studies cited in the Harvard guidelines, 80 to 90 percent of high school students reported some form of cheating in the past year, and many viewed it as trivial. In a world where it’s all too easy to present a packaged, perfect version of ourselves, it’s worrisome that image-painting continues in the hallowed halls of learning.
Help your teen contribute in meaningful ways. There’s a lot of pressure to have your teen pad his resume with community service, overseas volunteerism, or whatever activity feels like it adds dimension and character to his application. But the fact is, as far as college admissions go, this won’t set your kid apart. Nor does it teach the real lesson of service. Colleges want to see genuine passion in applicants. They want the extracurricular activities and service opportunities to reflect a kid’s interests and beliefs, rather than to simply present the image of a well-rounded package.
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Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020
Encourage kids to take challenging classes without inducing undue stress. You want your child to be stimulated in high school, but you don’t want her to be overwhelmed or humiliated if a class proves to be too difficult. Ditto athletics and extracurriculars. Let your kid be a kid and don’t design her academic and athletic career with college applications in mind. It can feel like failure to admit that Advanced Placement classes are not appropriate for your kid, at least in certain parenting circles. Most parents take great pride in their children’s academic success, including me. We see it as validation of our parenting skills and our values. Instead, think about what is right for your child, not what is right for the image you believe will guarantee her a spot at the school of your choice.
There are lots of scholarships available. One of the most daunting obstacles to college is the cost. The sticker price of most private
A HOW-TO FOR COLLEGE-BOUND STUDENTS
>>>1.
2.
Figure out what you want. The first thing Jackson Hole Community School college counselor, David Heinemann, asks high school students is, “Why do you want to go to college?” He says many kids haven’t bothered to stop to ask themselves that question. College is just a given. For other teens, college is totally out of the norm, and they may be the first in their family to even consider the option. Regardless, Heinemann believes it’s important for all students to reflect on what they hope to accomplish with college. That conversation goes a long way in helping students find a school that fits their personality, ambitions, and academic record.
3. >>>>>
Visit college campuses in the spring or summer of junior year. Most high schoolers have never been on a college
campus so students should visit a variety of schools to get a feel for what it’s like. Try to visit a big university, an urban liberal arts school, and a small rural college all in one region on one trip. This helps you begin to visualize what type of campus environment appeals to you.
Work with your college guidance counselor. All the high
schools in the Teton region have college guidance departments. Most begin working with students in their sophomore or junior year to help them narrow down their options, plan out their high school careers, and generate a list of appropriate schools. And, despite their titles, most college counselors can also advise you on options outside of a four-year school, such as gap years, community college, and technical schools.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
4. >>>>>>>>
Start the process early and maintain your timeline.
All too often, teens scramble to write their college essays the night before application deadlines. Work with your guidance counselor and parents to craft a timeline with specific deadlines. Then, during the application process, hold yourself accountable for those deadlines.
5.
Take advantage of educational opportunities offered by the college counseling office. Most area schools host
evening events to educate students and parents on the specifics of successfully applying to college or on opportunities for post-secondary school careers. This may include everything from information on financial aid and scholarship opportunities to details on specific parts of the application process. Summer 2020 ¤ Teton Family
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LOCAL RESOURCES
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•
Jackson Hole Tutoring and College Counseling provides consultation packages that cover essay writing, test prep, scholarship and financial aid assistance, and more. jacksonholecollegeconsulting.com The Community Foundation of Jackson Hole administers local scholarships to Teton County, Wyoming, students totaling more than $180,000. cfjacksonhole.org/apply/student-scholarships The Rotary Club of Teton Valley awards scholarships to Teton County, Idaho, students based on an application, essay, and interview. portal.clubrunner.ca/5267/stories/scholarship The Teton County Library hosts a free ACT prep course every February in conjunction with Jackson Hole Tutoring. tclib.org/175/ACT-Test-Prep-More Michelle Sirois offers one-on-one college test prep instruction that follows the Mindfish model. mindfish.com/our-tutors/michelle-sirois
• • • •
WEBSITES
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•
Bigfuture.collegeboard.org allows you to enter specific information into a college search to help narrow down your choices. Or use their pay-for-college calculator to determine how and where to get financial aid, how much money you’ll need for college, and how much a specific school will really cost At collegedata.com, you can research college stats like student makeup and programs offered Get expert college admissions advice from thecollegespy.com Collegeessayguy.com includes free podcasts, blogs, and webinars on all things college-application related Steven Antonoff wrote the book on college planning, and his website, schoolbuff.com, offers advice and tools for narrowing your college search and successfully securing admission Fill out a FAFSA application at studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa to determine your financial aid qualifications, should you want to apply Khanacademy.org provides an excellent online prep course for the SAT and ACT. And it’s FREE! Find a practice ACT test here: act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/Preparing-for-the-ACT.pdf
• • • • • • •
academic institutions is shocking. But the truth is that very few students actually pay the listed cost. The cheapest option for most kids is to go to a public in-state university. Often, these schools offer generous scholarships to students of all different abilities. There are also lots of private scholarships available to students in both Jackson and Teton Valley, Idaho. In 2019, private foundations, organizations, and community groups in Jackson Hole gave more than $600,000 in scholarships to graduating students. Teton County, Idaho, also offers scholarships for graduating seniors through organizations like the Rotary Club. We learned that many schools offer financial assistance based on academic merit. Avery did not receive any academic scholarships per se, but all of the schools that accepted her offered her some tuition discount. All in all, Avery and I emerged from the college process intact, although I wish I had gone into it with a more balanced perspective. And I don’t know how many times my mention of Yale stumps people. I’m almost embarrassed to admit I went there and often couch the statement with, “It was a lot easier in those days. Plus my father went there.” I chose Yale because it was the best school I got into. But was it the right choice for me? tf
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Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020
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Summer 2020 ¤ Teton Family
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EPIC FAMILY ADVENTURES SUMMER IN THE TETONS + FAMILY-FRIENDLY BIKE TRAILS + KIDS SUMMER CAMPS + 70+ MILES OF TRAILS + 15+ MILES OF LIFT-SERVED DOWNHILL TRAILS + WYDAHO RENDEZVOUS BIKE FEST + MT. BIKE RACES + SCENIC CHAIRLIFT RIDES + HORSEBACK RIDES + MUSIC FESTIVALS + 18-HOLE ON MOUNTAIN DISC GOLF + CLIMBING WALL + BUNGEE TRAMPOLINE DINING + BRANDING IRON + THE TRAP BAR + SNORKEL’S CAFE
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GRANDTARGHEE.COM 307.353.2300 Teton Family ¤ Summer 2020