September 2008 Newsletter

574 Adults Trained
7,344 Youth Served

What’s Inside

» Kyle’s Notes
» Field Reflections
» 16 More WFR Certifications
» Making BAWT Look Good
» WLTalk
» Photo Contest
» Grand Teton Triumph
» Wet and Wild Rafting!
» 200 More Backpacks
» Thank you to all of our recent donors!

Kyle Macdonald Last week, school started up at districts around the Bay, shifting youth workers into after-school programming and away from summer schedules. We’re going to be shifting gears too. But before we do, I must recap one of the most prolific summers BAWT has ever had. It was an amazing - at times overwhelming - summer of supporting all kinds of trips. BAWT facilitated over 35 trips from June through August, 16 in August alone! Through all those trips, we’ve been able to surpass yet another huge milestone... 7,000 youth outdoors! It seems like just yesterday that we were announcing 5,000 youth served. Over a dozen organizations are now using the BAWTmobiles, and 10 trips were supported through our new Milpitas gear library. Huge praise and thanks to the program staff, interns, volunteers, and especially all the amazing youth workers who helped get all those kids into nature this summer!

The BAWT community really is an inspirational place to be, largely due to the dedication of so many volunteers. In this newsletter, you’ll read about John Schall, the graphic designer responsible for the top notch logos, brochures, and ads for Climbing for Kids that you might have seen in Outside Magazine, Rock & Ice, and others. We’ll continue to feature more volunteers in future newsletters, in an effort to give you an even better sense of how BAWT accomplishes so much.

Many thanks and best wishes with all of your fall transitions,

Kyle Macdonald
Founder and CEO

Reflections from the Field

Children from the Oakdale housing project in Bayview-Hunters Point play a game during their overnight camping trip to Rob Hill, a campground in San Francisco’s Presidio. The trip was part of their Camping at the Presidio (CAP) program experience.

“Hi, my name is Roxanne and my daughter participated in this trip. I am a young mother of five children and I have been living in this community my whole life. It was a blessing to have my daughter attend. I try to stay positive and teach my children to feel free to be an individual. Meaning just because others might have their own perception of what is cool, doesn’t mean it is. Explore the World! Find something you like and don’t let others limit your goals. Have dreams and feel free to try new positive things.”
(Camping at the Presidio program, Sept 07)

Wilderness First Responder: 16 More Leaders WFR Certified

by Eve Skylar
Programs Associate, Camping at the Presidio Coordinator

SANTA ROSA, CA - You are hiking through a remote spot in Yosemite with your youth group when you come across another hiker. He is lying on the ground with his pack on - unconscious. Your group is the only one in sight and two days away from a road.

BAWT’s 10-day Wilderness First Responder course, taught by Bobbie Foster, from Foster Calm, came to a close on August 13th. This intensive, experiential course prepares participants for wilderness emergency situations like the scenario above. BAWT and Bobbie Foster trained 16 leaders in August, all of whom successfully passed and are now certified Wilderness First Responders.

The participants came from a broad spectrum of ages and interests. Sean Miller, currently a senior in high school and the youngest of the participants, said, “I took the WFR so that I could lead trips in college, have some basic wilderness first aid training for personal backpacking trips, and also to progress to the next level of training to be a WEMT.”

lone tent Participants were immersed in lectures, practical applications, and experiential scenarios within the surrounding outdoor environment. The course was held at Pepperwood Preserve, 3,117-acres of stunning landscape and rich biodiversity, where participants sighted rattlesnakes, wild turkeys, quail, raptors, and owls.

Near the end of the course, after a long day of scenarios, Steve Steinbrecher, one WFR participant, grinned widely with two thumbs up, “This was a kick butt course!”

BAWT’s Fall Wilderness First Aid is Nov. 1-2
Sign up here

John Schall: Making BAWT Look Good!

Interview by Elyzabeth Dehapiot
BAWT Marketing Intern

John is a graphic designer for VehicleSF, a 20-year-old graphic design firm in San Francisco specializing in retail graphics for the sport industry. Among their clients are Nike, Columbia, and Mountain Hardwear.

What do you most appreciate about BAWT?
I really like the fact that they are challenging kids to go from an urban environment to a world they have no idea about. It’s a life changing moment and it’s very valuable.

How did you come up with the CFK logo?
The idea of the CFK logo comes from the vintage hiking European Swiss medallions, which [Swiss] attached to their hiking sticks.

How did you come up with the Climbing For Kids campaign?
We gathered people together and talked about what was important, threw around ideas, and we narrowed it down to some core ideas and concepts of what BAWT wanted to do. The first campaign for CFK (two years ago) was about getting the name out there. It was about the feel of the brand, creating the brand. Last year’s campaign was about showing the climbers in the actual climbing environment and creating excitement about that. I think that worked pretty well. This coming year is less aggressive but there is still drama and the sense of team. The hard part is really getting the look and feel.

How would you describe BAWT? Climbing For Kids?
I think it’s a great benefit; it benefits a lot of people in a lot of different areas. Any kind of fundraising event is an amazing experience all around. Climbing For Kids is a life changing experience at different levels: it changes the person who is doing it and then it goes deeper in the community and I think it’s great. I really appreciate BAWT, I really enjoy working with BAWT. It has been a learning experience for me, I got a lot out of it, and I hope that a lot of people have benefited from what I have done for them. It has been a really good relationship, and we have produced very good work.

How did you get involved with BAWT?
I met Roger on the Oakland-San Francisco bike shuttle and we became friends. One day I ended up telling him I was a graphic designer and his eyes really lit up! [laugh]. At the time I was interested in doing some non-profit work. It was a perfect fit as [Roger] was interested in getting some work done and I was interested in trying it out. That was three years ago and through time I began focusing on the Climbing For Kids project.

Do you hike? Are you involved in outdoors activities?
I do hiking, skiing, backpacking, and bike touring. I trained for the Death Ride, which was July 12, a 129 mile road ride, with Roger [BAWT’s Executive Director]. It was a lot of training and a lot of fun!

The final step consists of preparing a full page CFK ad; as certain magazines will give out space to non profits. You have to reformat the ad so that magazines can pick the one that fits in that space.

WLTalk

See new photos from our June WLT!

BAWT’s 2008 WLT season has ended! Our last WLT returned Sunday, September 14th, exhausted, but jazzed about all they had done and accomplished. As we continue to grow our alumni community, we’re trying to keep people connected. Come share your experience and add your photos to our BAWT facebook group. We now have 122 members and 7 videos posted. Come help us grow this network and share your stories with other youth workers!

First 2009 WLT Dates: May 27-31st, pre-trip May 23rd. It’s never too early to sign up!
Apply for the Amy Chamberlain Scholarship.

BAWT Photo & Testimonial Contest: Win a $25 REI Gift Certificate!

Announcing BAWT’s 2nd Annual Photo & Testimonial Contest! The top three testimonials and photos will each win a $25 REI Gift Certificate. We want to see your pictures and read about your experiences taking BAWT’s classes, using BAWT’s gear, and especially about how BAWT helped you get your youth into the wilderness. To enter, send your entries by October 30th!!!

Everyone Summits on First CFK Trip to the Grand Teton

by Cliff Agocs
Climbing For Kids Coordinator

The trappers that criss-crossed the west in the 1800s referred to any Valley as a “hole.” To this day, in Western Wyoming, the term has stuck. Climbers routinely fly into Jackson Hole to access the Grand Teton - the tallest peak, by almost 1,000 feet, in the entire mountain range.

As mountaineers know, a summit that stands so high above its neighbors makes for a windy climb. “I often felt like that wind up there was blowing the cobwebs out of my soul,” said Keasley Jones, who reached the top on August 4th around 10 am. “I often thought about BAWT helping bring that feeling to kids who otherwise wouldn’t have the chance to experience it.”

Jones was one of ten climbers to make an attempt on the summit this season. At least half of them had never attempted technical rock climbing before, and all ten were rewarded by views from the top that stretched all the way to Idaho. Two-days of climbing school, geared toward beginners, taught each team member the requisite rope-work and prepared them to ascend to the highest point in the state. Registration for the Grand Teton in 2009 will begin on October 1st, 2008 at www.climbingforkids.org.

Rainier Team Summits with 10-Time Everest Climber

Dave Hahn stood atop Rainier with Climbing for Kids for his 250th ascent. Hahn holds some of the world’s most stunning mountaineering records, including 10 ascents of Mt. Everest � more than any other non-Sherpa in the world. He’s also climbed Antarctica’s 16,000 foot Vinson Massif 25 times � more than anyone else, ever. Hahn works for Rainier Mountaineering, Inc. guiding the biggest peaks in the world on all seven continents. We caught him in the late-summer rotation before he heads south to guide a trip up Aconcagua and another on Vinson Massif when the sun shines there again. Read more about Dave and his climbing life.

Check out all our new CFK photos in the gallery.

Come share your experience and add your photos on our new CFK facebook group. Join and don’t forget to invite your friends!

Rafting with BAWT

by Roger Miller
BAWT Executive Director

“Wild and Wet!” That’s how 13 year old Alyssa Houston described her first rafting trip on the South Fork of the American River. Alyssa’s father, Jeff, took BAWT’s WLT in September 2005 and has been taking groups of Girl Scouts on outings ever since. This July, Jeff and his whole family joined BAWT on our annual rafting extravaganza. In total, 42 people joined BAWT on a fun filled, class III whitewater trip on the weekend of July 26th and 27th. Thanks to everyone who rafted with us for your generous donations. BAWT hopes to continue the tradition of hosting a rafting trip again next summer. Look for more information about it in the spring!

“The rafting trip was wonderful. BAWT did a great job putting it on and I had complete confidence in our rafting guide. It was my first time going white water rafting and it was SO much fun, and camping at camp Lotus was awesome as well.”
(Jane Tucker, former BAWT intern and rafting participant.)

BAWT Breaking News: 200 New Backpacks!

200 brand-new Exodus packs will join BAWT’s lending library fleet courtesy of Mountain Hardwear. These packs will replace some veteran REI packs that have carried BAWT through almost a decade of youth trips! This donation makes Mountain Hardwear our biggest donor of in-kind gear ever and totals almost $90,000 at retail value. That is big savings to BAWT and great new gear in BAWT’s gear libraries.

For all you youth workers out there, this isn’t the only great new gear that is hitting the gear libraries. We’ve had a lot of fantastic new stuff come in and we’ll be getting almost $150,000 worth of new gear over the next six months. We hope that you’ll get your gear request in and use it all soon!

BAWT is proud to be supported by other great companies from the outdoor industry, including Gregory, Columbia, REI, Outside Magazine, Clif Bar, Merrell, Princeton Tec, Pacific Outdoor Equipment, Big Agnes, Julbo, Outdoor Research, and LEKI. We’re also thankful to Kelty, GSI, Wilderness Press, Mountaineers Books, Red Ledge, Teva, Atlas, and MSR for their donations in the last year.

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September 2008 Newsletter

574 Adults Trained
7,344 Youth Served