Conquests of Tankbird

I will be blogging my adventures in five different wilderness experience trainings this summer (2009):

• Outdoor Leadership Training sponsored by the Youth Opportunities Program of the Appalachian Mountain Club, Mt. Cardigan, NH  (May 2009)
• Earth Living 5-day Wilderness Skills through the Maine Primitive Skills Survival School, Augusta, ME  (July 2009)
• Zoar Outdoor’s 5-day Intensive Novice Whitewater Kayaking Class, Charlemont, MA (July 2009)
• Mountain Leadership School (including Wilderness First Aid) with the Appalachian Mountain Club, Crawford Notch, NH (August 2009)
• 2-day EMS Rock Climbing Institute, North Conway NH (August 2009)

I’m able to complete all these workshops through a grant from the Fund for Teachers program and the support of Four Rivers Charter School, where I teach 11th and 12th grade English.  I’m going to teach “Literature of the Wilderness” next Spring, which will have an adventure component.  These courses will train me for that adventure component.

Why Tankbird?

We have a mourning dove named Beaker who we’ve raised since she was about five days old.  When she walks, she stomps over everything in her path, undeterred by any obstacle that lays before her.  Hence she got the nickname “tankbird.”

When I hike, I like to think of Beaker and her indefatigable style.  I take on the title “Tankbird” with her in mind.