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Letters From A Parent

In February of 1995, when Greenwood ElementarySchool arrived for their annual stay at Wolf Ridge, David Larsoncame along. Like many other parent chaperones, David didn’treally have a clear understanding of what he was getting himselfinto. He had been recruited, took time off from his regular workand agreed to spend 24 hours a day for five days with over ahundred sixth graders that he didn’t know all in the name ofgood parenting and school support. And like many other parentchapeones, he came away learning as much as the kids. Thefollowing are excerpted, with David’s permission, fromletters he later wrote to those sixth grade students and to WolfRidge.

Dear Wolf Ridge,

I would like to thank your staff for one of the most exhilarating and uplifting experiences in my adult life. Being in the midst of eager minded sixth graders, learning about the natural order of life while at Wolf Ridge, was a powerful combination of forces that I did not foresee when I first volunteered to be a parent chaperone.

The staff at Wolf Ridge are tremendous. I can see your training come through in many ways. You achieve tremendous results with your approach. I forget that children must first learn the basics before we can expect them to try and resolve the many hard environmental issues ahead. We must arrive at workable solutions which address our growing population and its attendant problems. We do have the power to resolve these issues if we can communicate clearly and intelligently.

I cannot tell you the effect that Adventure Ropes and Rock Climbing had on these children. Children need to be allowed to take on risk and to discover that they have tremendous courage within to overcome their fears. Wolf Ridge allows children these experiences in a safe environment. I applaud your creativity in allowing these strengths to be born in kids.

Sincerely,

David Larson
Dear Greenwood Elementary Cougars,

I would like to thank you for making my Wolf Ridge experience a spectacular event in my life. As a parent chaperone, my original intent was to volunteer my time to what I had heard was a worthwhile event. Little did I know that I had it backwards. I thought that I was “giving,” while it ended up that I received far more than I gave. You were the reason for this.

What started out as a disconnected group called “C” became a connected group of intelligent children that worked together and watched out for one another. In order to accomplish activities as you did, it took discipline, teamwork and an extreme amount of courage. You will use these skills for the rest of your lives to become successful and productive adults. I applaud you for the successes you achieved while at Wolf Ridge.

It is your generation that will be in charge of caring for our environment. My generation and those that preceded me have been too focused on “building” our economy while ignoring the environmental costs. We have taken more than we gave at times at the expense of “Mother Nature.” You will do a better job and we now entrust you with the tough but doable task of caring for our earth.

Best regards,

David Larson