Mentors and Elders
Julia attended the Waldorf School of Princeton, NJ, pre-K-8th Grade. From 2011-2016 she taught movement as well as music to grades 1-8 and facilitated the Social Harmony program (working with students with behavioral and social difficulties and helping with class wide social conflict resolution) at the Orchard Valley Waldorf School, in East Montpelier, VT. She co-started, and has been directing programs and running ReTribe for the past 10 years. Julia has been a staff member of the Wayfinder Experience, a fantasy roleplaying and improvisational theater camp for teens, for the past 14 years. She has been working with kids since 2000, She has directed theater programs for ages 7-17. She has been staff at the IBme (Inward Bound Mindfulness Education) teen meditation retreats in Virginia. She is certified in Integral Breath Therapy as well as Energy Medicine and she teaches yoga and leads Kirtan (Sanskrit Chanting). She graduated from the University of Vermont in 2009 with a degree in Sociology and Music, with a focus on intentional community living. She is very passionate about helping children and teens to heal, grow, and transform, has a deep connection with nature, imagination, and magic and hopes to help facilitate youth to foster these connections, which already exist so powerfully within them.
Julia Hunt
John Hunt
John is a native of the green mountains of Vermont and a citizen of the Nulhegan band of Coosuk Abenaki. Growing up on a dairy farm he has been enthralled with the natural world since childhood and has a passion for helping others strengthen their connection. He has studied with expert survivalists and trackers including Tom Brown and Susan Morse and has also done extensive research on his own through books and direct exploration. John has been mentoring youth of all ages starting in 2007 in a wide variety of settings including summer camps, afterschool programs, and earth knowledge schools. He co-founded ReTribe in 2009 from the great desire to bring more harmony into the human family. John is a poet and drummer, has a strong meditation practice, and because of his deep love of Gaia, he has a passion for, and understanding of, sustainability issues on both a worldwide and individual scale. He is certified in Integral Breath Therapy, Energy Medicine and Wilderness First Aid (SOLO), and was trained through The Mindfulness in Education Teacher Training from Daniel Rechtschaffen at the Omega Institute. He loves working with youth and helping them discover their unique and beautiful power.
Jane is a Licensed Professional Counselor in NJ, Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor in VT, and a Master's Level Breath Therapist on the faculty of Integration Concepts. She has been in private practice since 2002. Jane specializes in Child Psychology and Transpersonal Psychology. Her book on the psychology of discipline - Kids: An Owners Manual - can be purchased on Amazon. She is a certified Imago Couples Therapist as well as a trainer in Social Harmony, a bullying prevention program for schools. She has been practicing meditation for 45 years. She has three wonderful grown children and two very cute grandchildren. Jane has a private practice at NorthernShire here in Underhill, working with children, adolescents and their parents.
Jane co-runs ReTribe's Shift Happens workshops for adults and the teen retreats. For additional info about Jane, click here to visit her personal website.
Jane Martin, LCMHC, LPC
Based in Montpelier, Mukti (aka Chris Ellingwood) plays a number of roles in the world, including software consultant, inventor, entrepreneur, ecological scientist, EarthWalk nature mentor and teacher of Non-Violent Communication. In 1998, Yogi Mukti took his first yoga asana class and in 2001 began his meditation practice. After completing over 5,000 hours of study and practice, he was given permission to teach by his teacher, Prem Prakash at the Green Mountain School of Yoga. His primary teaching interests are in yoga philosophy, lifestyle, meditation, mantra, and kirtan - all aimed towards transforming consciousness to be more loving. Mukti brings this ambition to ReTribe. He enjoys being part of helping teens grow and thrive so they can better become "beacons of love" in their homes and communities.
Yogi Mukti
Current Forest School Mentors
Supported by his grandfather, Colin studied religion at the University of Vermont.
He acts as the Camp Director for Red Rocks Nature Camp in South Burlington, where the kids learn to run like coyotes and deer. He has earned an EcoPsychology and Wilderness Leadership degree from Metta Earth Institute, Energy Medicine certified at UVM, Alchemical Healing at Esalen Institute, Ancient Living Skills at Roots School, and Reiki I certified. Over the years, Colin has supported: Standing Rock Water Protectors, Lake Champlain Sailing Center, Audobon Center, King St Youth Center, Edmunds Middle School, Christ the King, JJ Flynn, Howard Center, and others. Colin feels so grateful to work as a Mentor at ReTribe, not being able to imagine a more awesome Tribe of folks committed to the healing and change that he feels so strongly in his heart.
Colin Bradley
Chris Neidt
Enthralled with all things relating to the philosophy of play and the use of the imagination coupled with humor, Chris Niedt, a native New Jerseyan likes promoting community building through trust, love and play. Having been subjected to a hard life at school and being the target of bullying for over a decade as a kid, he has overcome physical and emotional obstacles - always learning and growing day by day. He has been a camper and staff member of various camps for over 17 years, teaching anything from kickball to how to properly act as a monster in the woods. Introduced to spirituality at an early age, Chris has become well versed in various bodywork methods including Reiki and Reflexology. An avid meditator, Chris loves using the breath. Focusing on Pranayama (breath regulation), he is a certified instructor of yoga. His inner child shines well throughout his adulthood.
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Discipline through breath - Strength through stillness -
Courage through Laughter - Love through play.
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Mo grew up in North Carolina and found a love for the outdoors through hiking and biking and exploring the nearby woods. She went to NC State and studied wildlife science and outdoor education. At NC state she worked for an outdoor program where she found a deep love for taking students out deep into the backcountry. Post-graduation she found herself bouncing all over the United States, working as a backpacking guide for kids and working bird survey positions. She landed in Vermont in 2020 for a wilderness therapy job and fell in love with the Green Mountains. She has been working in the public school system for the past two years as a behavioral interventionist. Some things that bring Mo joy are climbing, hiking, swimming, and cooking. Mo is excited to work with the Forest School and foster kids' natural curiosity and love of nature.
Megan Owens
Jen is a human that has been swinging from tree to tree but is so excited to plant roots at Forest School. She is delighted that life on Earth has (d)evolved enough to produce something as awesome as ReTribe. Jen began her university studies in the magical city of New Orleans, but completed her Bachelor’s Degree at Prescott College in Psychology and Human Development. She spent her summers learning organic gardening and communal living. But more importantly, she is learning everyday how to become a better and better human on this blue and beautiful planet.She likes to spend her time putting her hands in the soil, growing food, playing guitar, singing, and writing stories about intergalactic sea creatures. Jen believes that through engaging with the nature around us and within us, we can then connect better with ourselves, each other, and a future that prioritizes well-being for all life on Earth.
Jen Friedman
More ReTribe Family
Howard Moody
Howard is a faculty member of the Omega Institute for Holistic studies. In 1985 he co-founded The Adventure Game Theatre, featured on NPR and PBS, and has been teaching play, and team building workshops ever since. Howard trained with the New Games Foundation, Project Adventure, and the Professional Play Leaders Association. He studied Original Play with Fred Donaldson. Howard has also been a consultant with the Disney Development project and Kidsports International. Working as a sports coach for many years, Howard deeply understands how to connect children, using play, to learn to work effectively as a team. Howard has adapted the Adventure Game Theater with Wayfinder and Valarie Paradiz to work with students on the Autism spectrum - particularly students with Aspergers syndrome. Play in its many forms is Howard's passion and his mission is to share the value and gifts that play has to offer to everyone. You can visit Howard's web site at www.howardmoody.com
Dave, a/k/a Dr. Chill, is a private practice psychologist in Quebec City, Canada. Dave received his doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of Kansas, specializing in the areas of positive psychology, mindfulness meditation, and attachment. He has completed trainings in Integral Breathwork and maintains a Zen style meditation practice. Prior to becoming a therapist, he spent eight summers as a camp counselor.
Dave Martin, Ph.D.
Ted is a licensed clinical social worker in N.C. He has been working with individuals, couples, families, and groups in private practice since 1995. He has a degree in mathematics from Vanderbilt University and a Masters in Social Work from New York University.
He has extensively trained in experiential modalities, including Holotropic Breathwork™, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Core Energetics, EMDR, Breath Therapy, and hypnotherapy. Ted also trains other therapists in many of these modalities. For additional information about Ted, click here to visit his website. He is excited to bring his work to ReTribe's Adult retreat in Vermont this Spring!
Ted Riskin, LCSW
Sara is the chef for ReTribe's overnight programs. She believes that food is medicine that comes from the earth to nurture us with vibrancy, and is deeply honored to take part in the alchemical process of providing food for all of the wonderful people in the ReTribe community. Sara graduated college in 2017, with a self designed major in Holistic Health Studies that incorporated training in Ayurveda, western herbalism, nutrition, massage therapy, reiki, and permaculture. Her studies influence the sourcing and preparation of the food, as she prioritizes local and organic ingredients, balanced nutrition in each meal, and prepares all the food with love. Beyond kitchen life, Sara can be found learning homesteading skills like wildcrafting and foraging, gardening, snuggling with her cat/guru Maple, and playing music.
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Visit Earthshine Wellness to learn about Sara's massage practice and book a session.
Sara Peterson
Asa F. Hunt was born and raised on a traditional dairy farm in rural Vermont. He is the second child of four, born to two wild and wonderful parents. He is a 5’9”, 150 lbs., 28-year-old human with blue eyes, and brown hair. He has achieved a 12th grade reading level and an 8th grade maturity level. He began working for ReTribe in 2018 and has since worked both summer and winter retreats. He most enjoys bringing humor and fun into the lives of those around him and through working for ReTribe and being a part of the Community Living Program at NorthernShire, he has been able to cultivate that practice. When not working at teen camps, he is often working on the NorthernShire land as a carpenter, logger, and general handy-person. In his free time he most loves to read, write, and introspect.
Asa Hunt
Hannah is a Vermont native who grew up on the shores of the Lake Champlain Islands. She was immersed in the outdoors throughout her childhood and developed a love of nature, animals, and adventure early on. Currently residing in Raleigh, North Carolina, she works with cattle in veterinary research at NC State University where she also serves as a Wellness Ambassador, helping to promote personal resilience and community engagement. Hannah is a certified EMT, and on the side she works at a local EMS service and community clinic. At UVM, she earned degrees in Biology and Anthropology, and also ran track. She has spent time working with children as both an EMT and Personal Care Assistant, and with young adults as a track coach at UVM. She will be returning to her Vermont roots for her third summer with ReTribe's teen retreats helping care for the physical health of the teens as well as creating their costumes for the Adventure Game!
Hannah Sylvester
Abby is a being on a quest for healing; the worlds healing and their own. They believe that play should be a learning, healing, teaching experience. But at the same time there are times and places when play is not the answer to "how do we heal best?". And for those times, there is no general answer. That being said, ReTribe is a place of healing. When they came to ReTribe as an adult, in a staffing role, it was a huge shift in Abby. As a staffer, Abby is primarily working with the game system. As an avid player of RPGs, whether live action or tabletop, Abby is the person all the kids come to with questions about the specifics of the game. They also help to write the game each year, taking a general framework that has been created, and adding depth and realism to it.
ReTribe is a wonderful container, and the honesty and openness with which it is held resonates deeply with Abby.
Abby is grateful to be welcomed back with such enthusiasm each year, and looks forward to each new adventure as it comes.
Let us play!
Abby Ferguson
Teddy has worked with youth and teens in a variety of environments since he was a teenager. He spent six summers as a camp counselor in southern Indiana, taught environmental education on the coast of Maine, and apprenticed with a nature awareness school in central Vermont. An avid lover of weather, Teddy graduated from Valparaiso University with a degree in meteorology. He spent thousands of miles storm chasing across the great plains, performed NASA-funded atmospheric research in Japan, and also interned with an affordable housing non-profit in Moab, Utah, helping build strawbale houses. Currently, Teddy resides in Vermont, where he teaches ukulele classes and lessons, works at a food cooperative, and mentors at ReTribe’s Forest School, retreats, and various summer programs.
Teddy Pietrzak
Emily DiPaola has been working with kids and teens for all of her working career. She is a licensed K-6 teacher and is happy to be an encouraging support for others. She has eyes that look for opportunities to speak out for justice. Some things that make her feel really great are: riding bikes, cooking food, playing trumpet in bands, drinking coffee, sharing ideas, reading books, and being a part of the people and creations of the world. Interests include: massage, Reiki, yoga, writing, poetry and performing arts. Emily has been working with ReTribe teen retreats and day camps for the past 6 years and is excited to continue to bring her gifts to share with the youth.
Emily Dipaola
Bri Arnold
Bri fell in love with the outdoors early on, walking through the woods, navigating lakes to find hidden nooks with her grandfathers, and skiing the Green Mountains. As a teen she deepened her earth connection through farming in her hometown in MA, and ever since she has been inspired by our capacity to shape and steward land. She received a BA in Plant Biology from the University of Vermont, with minors in Anthropology and Latin American & Caribbean Studies. During her college years she traveled, became a registered yoga teacher, earned certifications in Healing Touch, completed a Permaculture Design Course from Prospect Rock Permaculture, and led agroecological research groups. She speaks Spanish and collaborates the Caliata Initiative, a project that supports indigenous agriculture in the highlands of Ecuador. Bri is happiest singing, dancing, painting, gardening, biking, and exploring rivers and meadows that buzz with life. She is grateful to share her love for the earth and art with her community at Forest School.
Arantha is deeply committed to cultivating authentic, connected and reciprical relationships with all aspects of life on this amazing planet. She began camp counseling at the age of 15, where she grew up in Vermont, and that has been work that she has weaved in and out of ever since. She spent most of her life in alternative schools and learning programs that explored intersectionality and nourished the expression and artistic creation of all. She is very excited to be back home in Vermont after world travels and continuing her work with ReTribe.
Arantha Farrow
Colton is an avid adventurer spending his free time climbing and playing in the Green Mountains of Vermont. Colton moved to Vermont when he was 15 after falling in love with the blanket of trees and the soft snow. Colton is a devoted land-based craft person who has been teaching earth skills for the last half decade to young kids and teens. Colton graduated from Sterling college in the fall 2017 where he worked and helped start a nature based program called 'Coyote Kids.' Colton dreams of building and starting a nature based program in Rutland, Vermont to serve the community. Colton loves to garden and get his hands in the dirt in Rutland. He helped start 2 community gardens sharing his passion and love of the land with kids and adults. Colton also worked at Rutland Mental Health Services with intellectually disabled individuals and groups to connect and grow food.
Colton Francis
Emily Wasem is recent graduate of the University of Vermont and has been exploring what the Green Mountains have to offer. She grew up in New Jersey where she attended the Waldorf School of Princeton for the majority of the formative years of her life. In her teens, she came across ReTribe by attending an Inner Journeys retreat and returned many times during her high school years. After moving to Vermont for school, she has been spending more time at ReTribe and getting involved in programs, growing as a mentor, and living in community during the summers. She has helped to pave a path for more teens to transition from participant to staff as they grow through these programs. She loved sharing her passion for the natural world as a Forest School mentor back in 2020-21, and she is excited to rejoin the mentor team this Spring.
Emily Wasem
Peter grew up in Middlebury, Vermont, and has been involved in Retribe camps and retreats for as long as he can remember. Starting as a pup in the Coyote Clan day camps all the way to a mountaineer at Wild Mountain Time and now a graduated SIT. He has slowly been learning and internalizing the teachings and lessons of these camps and the people who attend and run them. This combined with his experience in working with children and teens in theatrical productions has given him a great appreciation for mentoring and the impact it can have. He is grateful for the opportunity to give back to the community that has shaped him so fully and can not wait to help inspire the next generation of kids and teens to strive for new heights while teaching them to keep their feet on the ground.
Peter Orzech
Wyll Hoerres grew up in Central Vermont, where he explored rivers and forests alike. Though he struggled socially as a child, over the years he has gained the skills he needs and more. Now he acts as a mentor for the upcoming youth at ReTribe, spreading laughter and joy with each barefooted step. He began his ReTribe experience in the seventh grade, and since then has spent time at many retreats and has worked as an SIT at Forest School and AGT. In 2020, Wyll decided to take his love for ReTribe a step further and volunteered on the board of STRONG Youth, who help finance scholarships for ReTribe through fundraising. Wyll hopes to help the world form new communities that really care for each other, and he believes that the path to transcendence as a race is through caring for one another.
Wyll Hoerres
Wisdom has grown up in Vermont, and has (unsurprisingly) come to adore the natural world and all the things in it. Since 2016, Wisdom has been darkening the door of almost every ReTribe retreat, and has fallen even deeper in love and gained even more appreciation for what can be found outside, from plants to animals to the people there too. From years in high school spent learning acting and art to the years in the woods learning how to get branches stuck and unstuck from hair. He's excited to be able to spend even more time among the people at the Northernshire, and bring that store of knowledge to ReTribe as a Mentor in training.
Wisdom Edwards
Marlie grew up on a dairy farm in Addison, Vermont and loved to explore outside, eat dirt, and be able to run free. She grew up attending ReTribe summer camps, as John Hunt is her eldest brother. She has gradually gotten more involved with ReTribe and now is a mentor-in-training at the Teen Forest School! Marlie graduated from Vergennes Union High School in the spring of 2020 and attended her last two years of high school at The Walden Project, an outdoor alternative education program that has enhanced her love of nature, learning, and community. She has decided to take a gap year before she heads to UVM in the fall. She is excited to be a part of ReTribe as a mentor-in-training and hopes to bring play, kindness, and a supportive space for young people like her to find their gifts and love of life!
Marlie Hunt
Growing up in the woods of Vermont, Riley has been immersed in nature since a very young age, where he grew to love the opportunities for exploration and play the forests and rivers have to offer. Throughout his schooling he was very attached to music and theatre, but struggled greatly in school as a teen due to serious emotional turmoil. Looking for some deeper connection eventually led him to discover ReTribe in 2013, and he quickly felt like he belonged. Riley has been deeply involved in ReTribe ever since, from embodying a fearsome beast during the Adventure Game, facing emotional blockages at Inner Journeys, basking in the horizon at Wild Mountain Time, and onto new learning as a graduated SIT. Now moving into a mentoring position, Riley wants to help bring joy to those who struggle as he has, and guide them in the passion for playfulness.
Riley Craig
Sage Rose Osborne
Sage Rose is a passionate lover of the Earth who grew up playing in the Magick of the Vermont Forests. She is a studying Druid, of the Green Mountain Druid Order of Vermont, who has a deep reverence for Gaia and all of her Beings. Supporting people in returning Home to themselves through their connection to the Earth is one of Sage Rose’s biggest passions. Being able to do this with children feels like an incredibly special and important experience. Sage has been working with children from 0-18 in the mental health field for the past few years. She absolutely loves kiddos! And enjoys encouraging children to tap into their natural creativity and expression so that they feel safe, confident, empowered and joyful. In her free time, Sage enjoys communing with the Spirits of the Land, swimming in rivers, hiking, biking, camping, singing, dancing, yoga, gardening, gathering with friends in sacred circle, and living life in prayer. Sage acquired a Bachelors in Psychology and Masters in Counseling from UVM, worked for Centerpoint Youth & Adolescent services and Lund Family Center and is Reiki II certified. Sage also runs her own business where she provides spiritual guidance, and Reiki and energy work; supporting people in embodying their Truth. She is so very excited to be a Forest school mentor and join the ReTribe Family!