by Brennan Patrick Gillis
Posted in Education
We couldn’t do it without you.
Nestled safely behind my desk, I can see the storm clouds rolling in. With a quick check of the radar app I can confirm that, yep, there is indeed a massive storm imminent.
As I switch from the “Relaxing Video Game Lofi” to “Autumn Inspired Classical Music for Work/Study” playlists on my Spotify, and wait for my tea to steep, my thoughts go out to the Naturalist Educators in the field, moments from being eclipsed by the wall of precipitation rapidly moving across the Colorado Plateau.
I just hope the guides can get the river wing up before it hits…
All of CFI’s programming is run by our education team, a talented group of Program Managers, Returning Educators, and First Year Naturalist Guides. On a multi-day trip, the educators not only lead curriculum to connect kids to science on the Colorado Plateau, they take on the roles of Michelin-star chefs, manage kids through tech detox, and promote self confidence in a completely new setting. To be a CFI educator, your skills comprise those of a river guide, a naturalist, and a teacher.
Without spending time in the field, it can be challenging for me to fully understand the formula that CFI guides use to create lifechanging moments for kids in the outdoors. Luckily, Pat Hayes was recently reflecting on his own season, and highlighted the exceptional way his fellow educators have given “reluctant participants” the tools to have a great trip: “It’s the sand-avoidant kid playing in the sand the following day, the shy kid who begins the trip with a mask on and ends up in the water and smiling, the 45-minute long conversations with reserved students, the patience, the finding of tasks for each kid in the group to participate.”
He summed up the amorphous nature of successfully engaging with kids in the outdoors: the quick thinking to identify and navigate a kid’s roadblock to creating connection.
the FYNEs challenge their own comfort zones to thrive in the CFI environment then go on to mentor the next cohort of educators so effectively.
Witnessing the growth of our field staff has been remarkable for us office folks. I share the sentiment expressed by our Development Director, Shelby: “I’m just so in awe of them all the time!” She’s right – it’s hard not be in awe of a multi-talented group of educators dedicating their professional careers to creating connections for kids in the outdoors. “Their ability to work with the kids who are so far out of their comfort zone and make learning actually fun is so insane to me.”
The growth of our first year educators over the course of the season mimics the growth of CFI students during a river trip. Shelby mentioned how inspired she has been to see the FYNEs challenge their own comfort zones to thrive in the CFI environment, then go on to mentor the next cohort of educators so effectively.
So, with the season winding down, I wanted to take a moment to extend our gratitude to the education team who makes our mission possible. Here’s to you!
Here’s to the time (times!) when you arrive to the end of a trip, only to find the keys to the shuttle vehicle have taken some unapproved vacation time.
Here’s to the moments when you’ve painstakingly produced multiple versions of the evening meal, wary of cross contamination, tripling the amount of dishes, only for a student to hit you with the “Oh I love bread, my mom just said I’m gluten-free on the form because she wants me to eat healthy.”
Here’s to the AM and PM snacks you’ve forgone because there weren’t quite enough Made Good bars to pass out to the whole group.
Here’s to dirty burritos at Los G’s, mid-rig dance parties, and the UNGODLY amount of Nerd Gummy Clusters (looking at you, Jade) consumed over the course of the season.
Here’s to the use reports, driver’s logs, food evaluations, pre-trip interviews, curriculum questionnaires, and endless other paperwork you all complete to help the admin staff continually improve and set you up for success.
Here’s to the hours of debrief and insightful feedback you all have given to and received from each other along the endless road to perfecting your craft.
Here’s to the extreme patience, compassion, and awareness you bring to the job.
The monsoons on the Colorado Plateau are no joke. As the wind picks up, the first drops of rain (wait, is that hail?!) start to rattle the side of the office. I think about our crew rowing their way through the same storm and glance over at our on-call emergency phone.
The phone remains silent….they got this, no help needed.
CFI’s mission is multi-faceted. In addition to our fundraising efforts geared toward getting kids outside, we also focus our resources into our First Year Naturalist Program. The FYNE program is a paid professional development opportunity that equips educators with the skills and experience to be an outdoor professional. Thanks to financial support from our community, we are able to provide salaries, gear, certifications like WFR and Swiftwater, and housing to our cohort of talented educators. Past FYNEs have gone on to become lawyers, doctors, stewards, and advocates of the people and resources of the Colorado Plateau.
