Spend Thanksgiving in Patagonia With NCOAE’s 31-Day Outdoor Educator Training

What are your plans for Thanksgiving? Here at The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education, we’re expanding our outdoor educator-training program on a global scale and announcing a month-long training expedition that culminates in a Thanksgiving celebration in Patagonia — a remote region at the southernmost end of South America that is shared by Argentina and Chile.

That’s a large leap from our outdoor educator training programs in North Carolina on the Eastern seaboard and Oregon and California out West. But we’re excited to be spreading our wings, and we’re even going a step further by planning a second overseas training expedition next spring — this time to Kenya for a 33-Day Outdoor Educator Instructor Training – East Africa.

But first, back to our Patagonia training. The 31-Day Outdoor Educator Instructor Training – Patagonia is co-ed and targets college students, classroom teachers and novice outdoor educators who are 18 years and older. Tuition is just $6,600. We fly from Houston, Tex., and land in Santiago, Chile, where our local team has already worked out an invigorating itinerary.

Chile is a land of extremes, from the snow-capped volcanoes of Patagonia and dizzying heights of the Andes, to the driest desert on earth and the extensive southern glacial fields. We’ll be exploring some of the most beautiful mountains and rivers in the world, and we’ll see it with fellow explorers who have the same enthusiasm and zeal for the outdoors and education that you do.

And when it comes to gaining the experience and knowledge to become an outdoor educator, there are few better “classrooms” than Patagonia and the Andes.

There, you’ll develop or expand what knowledge you have about raft guiding, kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding, backpacking, cooking in the backcountry, remote wilderness camp craft, trekking, mountaineering — all in an environment that returning visitors consistently describe as unbelievably stunning.

In addition, you’ll learn the tricks of the trade when it comes to international expedition style travel with a group in tow. And you’ll learn — and be able to teach — leadership and communications skills, environmental and civic responsibilities, as well as how to pass on the successes gained by working together as a team with those you will eventually teach and lead.

At the end of this training trip of a lifetime, you will acquire Wilderness First Responder (WFR) certification; Leave No Trace (LNT) trainer certification; Wilderness Risk Management skills and teaching-level knowledge of the acclaimed NCOAE curriculum.

What is this curriculum that’s so special to our program? Simply put, it’s an approach to facilitating, guiding and leading that pretty much guarantees you’ll have a leg upon your competitors when you apply for entry-level positions in the field of outdoor education, adventure-based education, backcountry guiding, college and university outdoor recreation programs and others throughout the country. It’s also been reviewed and approved by leading organizations that offer high school and college & university credits!

We’re very proud of our curriculum and this training, which admittedly isn’t available anywhere else, and we’re especially excited to include it in our offering for Patagonia.

Our training — informed and reinforced by the NCOAE Curriculum — revolves around the concepts of self, community, action and impact. We put the major focus on authentic international learning and hands-on education. And we make sure we involve locals and communities in order to create meaningful academic and personal connections.

And since so much of this training involves learning and practicing technical outdoors skills, there is a big teaching element that will enable participants to pass on what they learned to their future students.

Which means you’ll be learning or honing up on your map and compass-reading skills — and be able to teach them to others. Same goes for properly and promptly setting up a campsite, wilderness navigation, water safety techniques, getting a reading on rapids, paddle strokes and maneuvers, wave dynamics, marine ecology, surfing and more.

Below is an abbreviated itinerary for the Oct. 25, 2015—Nov. 25, 2015 excursion. Have a look and then give us a call at (910) 399-8090 to reserve your spot today!

• After our arrival in Santiago, we’ll drive 90 miles to the Maipo Valley where we’ll base at the famous Cascadas de las Animas, which is Chile’s oldest ecotourism site. For the next three days, we’ll learn camp craft, LNT, expedition planning and the NCOAE curriculum.
• Days five through eight find us in Banós Colina, a hot springs site with giant condors during a multi-day trek across the pass into Argentina. Days nine through 14 find us trekking at high altititudes to a four-summit volcano complex high in the Andes. From the summit, we’ll circle a crater and view the heavily glaciated Marmolejo to the north.
• We’ll resupply and spend the next 10 days traveling to Pucon for a layover, with some WFR training in a geodesic dome built for outdoor educators. Then it’s four full days of whitewater kayaking, stand up paddle boarding and rafting. You’ll learn how to read currents, command a raft crew — all with views of towering volcanoes.
• Our 31-day excursion concludes with an overnight raft camping trip on the Rio San Pedro, known for its clear turquoise waters.

Interested in enrolling online? Visit the Outdoor Educator Training page online today.