Girdwood Charter School dream...

This video was first made for the Girdwood Charter School and the kids and parents of Glacier City. We had intended to buy this property as the School office and base camp for outdoor activities. However, someone else bought it instead. Now we are simply using existing facilities and the vast wilderness as our classroom. Perhaps by spring we will have a new place in mind. Adventure • Stewardship • Production... these are the basic elements of this unique wilderness school. For more than twenty years I have been exploring Alaska searching for the ideal place to live, work and play deep within a wilderness environment yet that is close enough to civilization that others may enjoy it too. Many suitable places were discovered but the land portrayed in this video is the "best of both worlds" with civilization out the front door and wilderness out the back. This or another place like it serves s a center for education and ecology that we are using to create a model of sustainable living for the 21st century. Practical and esoteric arts are studied, experienced and shared here for personal and community growth. Gardening, landscaping, arts, crafts and many other electives are lived and taught on a daily basis. We also have an on-site saw mill to process lumber for our Forestry and Wood Harvesting program. Staff, students and visitors may also learn basic and advanced wilderness survival and travel, orienteering, kayaking, hiking, mountain climbing, healing arts, martial arts and multi-media production. Meditation, massage, gourmet food and various forms of professional counseling are also part of this dynamic school and retreat. The curriculum is real life and the process of learning is 90% experiential and 10% academic. Other activities and skills offered include archery, composting, recycling and how to manufacture useful products from waste materials and available resources.

Wherever we are, wherever we explore, we always focus on ways to beautify it, restore it or have it serve as a base for people to learn about reclamation and stewardship. Glacier Vally is one of the most incredible locations in Alaska. The parcel is bordered on two sides by California Creek which is a glacier stream flowing close to its source out of the Chugach Mountains. The center of the town of Girdwood, or "Glacier City" as it is known by locals, is a mile wide and two miles deep off the north Pacific ocean inlet of Turnagain Arm. One block to the West is a gateway to more than 10,000 acres of pristine wilderness: mountain rainforest, glacier streams and wildlife. Across the street is the rustic, world-famous fine-dining restaurant, the Double Musky.

"How much money have you raised?" people ask. "How are you going to pay for it?" The answer is simply, "The Secret." The Law of Attraction and other methods of creation are now finding their way into the minds and hearts of the masses. More important than land or wilderness schools and retreat aspect of the Girdwood Charter School is the awareness and ability of applying such phenomenon as "The Secret", the ability to create anything imaginable. I learned this many years ago and have been applying it regularly. Now the basic principles of creation have reached the mainstream and this School and Retreat is a place to learn and apply these principles- in a way that is beneficial to people and nature.

Starting with no money whatsoever, myself and others are focusing our minds and engaging our passionate hearts to create a way of life that is sustainable. We are sharing the process: the challenges and rewards via multi-media: stories, music, photos and video particularly DVD and the worldwide web.

The purpose of this video and the School & Retreat is represents are intended to promote and support tribal community- employing the best of indigenous wisdom and the best of modern technology to learn, experience and teach sustainable living.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Girdwood
• Charter
• School
• David
• Lakota
• Alyeska
• Alaska
• Glacier
• City
• High
• Tom
• Brown
• Jr.
• message
• higher
• education
• deep
• ecology
• economic
• prosperity
• spirit
• self
• nature
• connection
• southcentral
• adventure
• stewardship
• production
• training
• children
• teens
• adults
• survival
• skills
• fire
• and
• shelter
• building
• finding
• food
• water
• orienteering
• map
• compass
• navigation
• encountering
• wildlife
• first-aid
• emergency
• response

[alaskiwhitechick]

im kinda scared alaska will turn into an industrial piece of shit like most of the rest of the world has.

if it does idk what else therell be

alaskas too amazing to be destroyed.

[DavidLakota]

wherever there is white man or native for that matter in Alaska, the area is already an industrial piece of shit. There are very few it seems who care to beauty or make better their lot in life, both literally and figuratively. Our schools and retreats show people hands-on how to take care of themselves and the land so that both may continuously improve instead of degrade. Plant a tree. Pick up garbage. Get off the beaten path. Sit still in nature for even just a few moments.

[DavidLakota]

yes, there is a lot of land all over the State. I've never really been into buying or selling land and have yet to do so. Instead, focus on your education and your skills- especially where it involves tending to the land. Everywhere I have gone in Alaska or Hawaii or other places, I was able to live rent-free and mortgage free because I was willing to work the land and work with and for those who love the land.

[DavidLakota]

Once you visit Alaska you will see that it only takes a few minutes to escape civilization. Right across the street from the land in this video is 10,000 acres plus of uninhabited wilderness. Many Colorados can fit in Alaska and most of the State has no people, no roads and no development. Colorado too has vast uninhabited wilderness. You just have to get off the main road system and not be so addicted and distracted to the comforts of living so close to others.

[sumneracarter]

david....thank you for this work....you have planted an important seed my brother. To be replicated many times. Go Planet!

[kwikflikz]

i'm sure that whoever bought this place has wiped out on those awkward stairs (1:14) more than once!...

[DavidLakota]

Why wait? "Nature is the best teacher." The bare essentials of survival especially in Alaska are as follows:

1- calm

2- shelter

3- warmth

4- water

5- food

6- activity

7- companionship

Let me know when you are ready for more instruction. -David Lakota

[Innoroth]

Sounds like a great venture! I'm currently looking at prospective wilderness and survival schools, but it has been a very difficult search due to there being a dearth of them. The few that do exist and offer what I am looking for (semester-long to year-long courses) are quite expensive! Compounding the problem is a lack of time because I'm in college right now and will be for the next couple of years. It is my hope to enroll in one for a year once I'm finished with college.

Hope to see yours!

[rondionne]

That looks like Dons house (across from the Musky) with an elevated addition.

[greenguy007]

They have been doing the same to Colorado for several years now. You can't even escape civilization anymore. It takes 4 hrs to get out of town now. They have build homes and shopping centers all the way to the foothills. Sad