A friend of mine recently told me about the transformative experience that her young child had while participating in the Wilderness Youth Project, and how a growing connection with nature was making her son happier and more confident. That’s no surprise to Dan Fontaine, the project’s executive director, who explains, “I grew up in an era when nature was the most fun thing you could do.”
WYP is a nonprofit organization that offers after-school, school-day, and summer programs to foster health and learning for young people and their families through active outdoor experiences and mentoring. The project returns today’s digitally focused kids back to more traditional notions of childhood, bringing them outside to explore, gain self-esteem, and develop meaningful relationships with the natural world. “What we do is tangible,” says Dan.
He came to Santa Barbara to study engineering at UCSB, but knew he wanted to chart a different course even before graduation. Dan worked as an engineer for a couple of years, but then quit, traveled, and reinvented himself. In 2001, he participated in a tracking program at the Wilderness Youth Project and has been there ever since, becoming involved in every aspect of the organization.