Scouts

After School Sessions in Rocky Ripple
Ages 10-12

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Looking for a way to keep your kid active and outside after their school day?

Wish your kid could have the “White Pine” experience they loved during summer camp?

Our After-School Sessions might be just the fit for you!

Our After-School Shikari Sessions for Scouts are an excellent way for your Scout to unplug, immerse in nature, and train in wilderness skills. Scouts are well along in defining their identities and love exploring the archetypes of the Shikari Wilderness System.

Program Overview

Shikari is a community operating system structured around wilderness skills, naturalist training, seasonal rhythms and self empowerment. We utilize variations of Shikari for all ages from 3 to Elder. We feel it is the most comprehensive wilderness training system available, designed to create holistic Skills Practitioners embodied in their own Peace, Power and Purpose.

Our programs guide students through reconnecting with nature, community, ancestry, indigenous wisdom and themselves. The methodology evolved through decades of research and experimentation with Wilderness Skills and Regenerative Community Design. Focused Scouts will be offered guidance through ceremonial Rites of Passage into Councils and peer groups.

Program Location

Our After-School Sessions are located at our Rocky Ripple campus, our home base since 2014. Rocky Ripple is a quiet neighborhood, tucked in between the Indianapolis Canal and the Wapahani (White) River, and is loved by many for it’s peace and quiet. Here, we explore the beautiful woods and shorelines of the river to connect ourselves to nature.

Our campus is a private, partially-fenced space with everything you’d need for having fun learning about nature: an archery range, flint-napping area, climbing wall, primitive cob house, multiple fire pits, a yurt, a tree house, super-high monkey bars, chicken coop, skinning area, wood splitting area, individual lockers for gear, a climbing rope/swing, and so much more.

We adventure into the woods almost daily, just blocks from our campus. Rocky Ripple is a riparian habitat, exhibiting traits from both terrestrial and aquatic systems. So what do we find? Sycamore trees, wild ginger, crawdads, chickweed, sunfish, turtles, red-tailed hawks, barred owls, burdock, an occasional coyote in the distance, and so much more.

Program Structure

After-School Scouts (ages 10-12) meet from 4:00pm-7:00pm on Mondays. We allow a rolling drop-off time to accommodate different school dismissal times.

We meet at a consistent location with the same teachers throughout the whole school year. Class size is limited to 10 kids, with a teacher-to-student ratio of 1:5. We are outside 99% of the time, with students only going inside in the case of restroom breaks or severe weather threats.

After-School Sessions are structured into 8 sessions throughout the year that each last 4 weeks. Each session dives into the Guilds, Games, Science and Training of that time of year. Families are welcome to register for any number of sessions. Keep in mind that we may offer pop-up sessions occasionally, so follow us on social media for updates.

Fees

1 DAY

per week

*$140

per 4 week session

Apply Today

*Thanks to our generous donors, we are able to offer financial aid.

Please visit the Ethan Runnels Memorial Scholarship page to apply for your family.

Program Sessions

August 12 - September 6: South Shield - Survivors Pathway

Wood · Stone · Feather and Bone · Fire

Fire, Wood, Stone, Feather n’ Bone are the Guilds that define the Survivors Pathway. Those with the artistic urge to tinker and experiment have a huge body of ancestral skills to draw upon. Three decades ago, In the deserts of Idaho, a ragtag group of archeologists gathered together to break rock, twirl up hand-drill fires, make bows and haft arrows. Led by, now ancestor, Errett Callahan, they called themselves Primitive Skills Practitioners. They refined a creed, established a journal and committed to annual gatherings. Survivors Practitioners are the heart and soul of the Wilderness Skills Movement.

September 16 - October 11: Southwest Shield - Shadows Pathway

Scouting · Endurance · Throwsticks · Footwear

Inspired by the Apache Scouts, capable of superhuman feats of endurance and stealth. Shadows train in Endurance, Throwsticks, Scouting, and Footwear. The greatest expression of this Pathway is found in the running of the Shadows Course; a tight network of trails and targets, often accompanied by hidden hunters armed with foam arrows. The course is run with self made small game hunting weapons called rabbitsticks. Years of training yields sinewy ‘masters of terrain’ that float across the landscape like our totem animal, the coyote.

October 21 - November 15: West Shield - Providers Pathway

Archery · Music Guild (Instrument Crafting) · Wood Splitting · Cooking

Practitioners of the Providers Pathway train in Sustainable Hunting practices through a variety of global Archery Traditions. Students grow in focus and patience through the practice of Traditional Archery. Students are guided to connect with their own ancestry through the crafting of traditional instruments and are celebrated in community through the sharing of music. Providers build strength and responsibility through filling the wood shed with hand split firewood and they experience abundance through preparing and sharing bush cooked cuisine. The scientific grounding of the Providers Pathway is rooted in trees and conservation and our time of year to shine is Autumn.

January 6 - January 31: North Shield - Leaders Pathway

Tanning · Storytelling · Inside Sit Spot · Shelter

Practitioners of the Leaders Pathway focus on the Guilds of Tanning, Shelter, Inside Sit Spot and Storytelling. On dark winter nights, huddled around a campfire or woodstove in a yurt or lean-to, while hand softening deer hides that will be customized into clothing that lasts a lifetime, Leaders weave the stories that build the cultural values that define us. The Science of this Pathway is grounded in the Extinct, Extirpated and Protected species. Leaders remind us of the original First Nation caretakers of each place so that we can strive to build a happy and healthy community for all our relations for generations to come.

November 18 - December 20: Northwest Shield - Trackers Pathway

Track & Sign · Trailing · Nature Museum · Trapping

Our ancestors were capable of picking up an animal trail and following it like a thread for miles until the animal could be found in their bed. Such incredible feets of awareness and skill are still alive today amongst traditional hunter gatherer cultures. Globally, the Tracking and Trailing Guilds are making a huge revival thanks to quality field guides, evaluations and communities like ours. Those with the detective mind and a passion to understand their place within the broader wildlife community, will find a home on the Trackers Pathway.

February 10 - March 7: Northeast Shield - Ascetics Pathway

Sit Spot · Bird Language · Fiber · Baskets and Pots

It is a cold, dark February night, as the first purple light of dawn illuminates the sky. Hidden in a tall spruce tree a barred owl calls to her mate. The dawn chorus won't begin for another hour. Seated below the tree silently weaving a basket, with ears attuned to every sound, unshaken by the cold, is the poised Practitioner of the Ascetic Pathway. They are in their happy place… the liminal space between night and dawn, winter and spring. Their awareness and silence are unparalleled, their empathy supernatural.

March 17 - April 11: East Shield - Healers Pathway

Herbalism · Foraging · Caretaking · Homesteading

Healers focus on the Guilds of Herbalism, Foraging, Caretaking, and Homesteading. Driven by a thirst for knowledge and a passion to help others, Healers fulfill a vital role in the community. The complexity of the plant and fungus Kingdoms provides endless opportunities for scientific research and experimentation. A life with one hand in the dirt and the other in a field guide makes for humble and happy Practitioners.

April 21 - May 16: Southeast Shield - Protectors Pathway

Strength · Fighting · Movement · Play

Movement, Strength, Fighting and Play define the Protectors Path. Often, those called in this direction have seen the dark side of bullying and aggression. Practitioners are driven by the physical expression of health and vitality. Here they find exuberance, courage, connection and fun. With reflexes like a cat and awareness fixed on the perimeter of camp, Protectors sleep with one eye open.

Program Team

Alex Sangsuwangul

Woolly Bears Instructor, After-School Flying Squirrels Instructor, After-School Scouts Instructor