Walker School of the Wild Foundation
Teen Wilderness Rites of Passage
Our Youth Rites of Passage program guides youth 13-18 from the Bay Area and Los Angeles through intentional, nature-based experiences that mark the transition from childhood toward adulthood.
Through wilderness immersion, mentorship, skill-building, reflection, and ceremony, participants learn responsibility, self-trust, emotional resilience, and a sense of belonging to something larger than themselves. These rites provide what many modern adolescents are missing: meaningful challenge, clear thresholds, and supportive elders who help them step forward with purpose.
College Rites of Passage
Our College Rites of Passage program guides young men 18–28 from the Bay Area and Los Angeles through intentional, nature-based experiences designed for those who never had a real threshold to cross — or who crossed one too fast, without ceremony or support. Through wilderness immersion, mentorship, skill-building, reflection, and ceremony, participants build self-knowledge, emotional grounding, and a clearer sense of who they are and what they stand for. These rites offer what college rarely does: meaningful challenge, honest community, and the space to ask — for the first time or all over again — what kind of man do I want to be?
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we gather on Onavi, the ancestral homeland of the Nüümü (Northern Paiute), with long-standing relationships also held by the Wašíiw (Washoe) and Kutzadika’a (Mono Lake Paiute) peoples. Onavi—its valleys, rivers, mountains, and wildlife—has been lived with, known, and cared for through Indigenous languages, laws, and responsibilities since time immemorial.
We honor the enduring presence and resilience of Indigenous peoples and recognize the histories of displacement carried on this land. As we work and gather on Onavi, we commit to humility, gratitude, and responsibility—to act in ways that respect the land and the peoples who have always belonged to it.