Flying Deer Nature Center (FDNC) is a nonprofit wilderness school and community dedicated to mentoring children, youth, adults, and families in deep connection to nature, self, and others.
Since 1996, FDNC has offered nature-immersion programming for people of all ages, through school and homeschool programs, summer camps, corporate curriculums, rites-of-passage experiences, adult programs, and outreach events.
Our work aims not only to teach naturalist practices and wilderness survival skills, but also to foster in participants a lifelong relationship with nature and access to the gifts it brings: resilience, creativity, and the ability to listen deeply to ourselves and to others. We all need the benefits of connecting with the natural world and, in like measure, nature needs our care. This deep and reciprocal relationship with the earth is at the heart of our mission.
The Benefits of Time in Nature
- Supports motor function, brain development, and sensory integration
- Reduces symptoms of ADHD and ADD
- Increases our physical health and well-being
- Builds emotional, physical, and spiritual resilience
- Reduces stress, depression, and anxiety
- Has a positive, lasting impact on our independence, leadership, and communication skills
- Improves self-awareness and self-confidence
- Brings families closer together.
Looking Back, Looking Ahead
Founded in 1996 as a backyard nature camp, and located for many years on the property of the Abode of the Message in New Lebanon, New York, FDNC has steadily grown into a well-known and well-respected leader in the field of nature education. Along with our summer camps and school-year programs, including four days of Forest Kindergarten, we offer in- and after-school programs in six schools throughout Columbia and Berkshire Counties.
During 2020, our programming expanded to include online classes for children around the country, as well as consulting and training for teachers and schools seeking to move learning outdoors. We also collaborate with numerous regional organizations to offer local programming, most recently through an online STEAM experience for Pittsfield public school children and with CLuB, founded in fall 2020 to provide outdoor experiences for children doing remote learning.
The Gift of a Home
In 2017, our beautiful home in East Chatham, New York, including 164 acres of fields and forest, was donated to Flying Deer by longtime community members Jeanne and David Laskin. The Laskins had dreamed of handing their beloved land over to owners who would give it as much love and care as they had for 25 years, and we are honored to be its recipients and caretakers.
The property is tailor-made for our work, with diverse wildlife habitats, meandering streams, grandmother oak trees, and expansive fields. Here we can fully express the ethic and core values that guide all that we do. Our ongoing work to nurture the land includes cultivating the groves of old-growth forest and remediating areas choked out by invasive species. We’ve also created community gathering spaces, shelters, and an office space on the ground floor of the house; and built trails, campsites, a driveway, parking lot, and outhouses.
Expanding Our Reach and Impact
FDNC is committed to widening the circle of nature connection to include people of all cultures, races, ethnicities, religions, and orientations, united in the embrace of the natural world. Our diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives include the establishment of a Speaker Series and a Reparations Fund earmarked to support the nature-connection work of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.
In 2012, FDNC established the Pat Franklin Memorial Fund, in honor of one of our most dedicated and beloved patrons. In 2017, in honor of the Laskins’ generosity, we established the David Laskin Scholarship Fund, which supports the participation of local, underserved children in Flying Deer opportunities. In addition, our Financial Assistance Fund awards $20,000 annually to ensure that no one is prevented from attending our programs due to financial constraints.
To find out more about our work or discuss how you can partner with FDNC or support our mission, contact us at info@flyingdeernaturecenter.org.