Looking for activities for teens or activities for pre-teens? Consider an outdoor leadership program for teens in Victoria BC like no other! Designed as an alternative to team sports and rec center programs, our Victoria Teen Outdoor Leadership Club teaches teens valuable life skills including leadership, planning, budgeting, fitness, employment, healthy eating and social responsibility and more. Teens attend one session per week and plan outdoor activities and events such as backcountry camping trips, skiing trips, surfing trips, kayaking trips, canoeing trips, hiking trips, orienteering sessions, geocaching and fundraising. They may also get the opportunity to test their new leadership skills while working with younger children. Younger pre-teens do similar activities and build up to the adventures of the older teens. This program is driven by the youth! Financial Assistance is available for this program.
**Please note that there is an application process for this teen program**
| PROGRAM | AGE | # OF WEEKS | START TIME | END TIME | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Monday Meeting | 11 - 15 | Sept - June | 17:45 | 20:30 | ||
| Thursday Training | 10 - 16 | Sept - June | 17:00 | 18:00 | ||
| TYPE | PRICE BEFORE AUG 01, 2024 | REGULAR PRICE | ||||
| Returning Families | *$1,998 + GST | *$2,298 + GST | ||||
| New Families | *$2,280 + GST | *$2,480 + GST | ||||
| Add-On | Price | |||||
| Thursday Fitness Training | 290 + GST | 22-28 Sessions | ||||
*Some activities carry additional costs and take place at times other than during meetings.
| PROGRAM DATES | AVAILABILITY | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Mondays Sept 09, 2024 - May 26, 2025 | Accepting applications for September | ||
| SHARE | APPLY | ||
| APPLY NOW |
The program does not run on certain days, refer to the program details sheet after registration.
Call us now at 250-888-1622 and talk to a real person!! or, if you can't talk now, please click on the following button to take you to the contact information survey (takes 1 to 2 minutes to complete) and we will get back to you within 2-5 business days. If you are inquiring about financial assistance, Click here.
We believe all youth should have access to our programs, as such we offer a variety of financial assistance programs. For our leadership program, financial assistance is available to cover all, one or part of program fees, activity costs and gear rentals. For more information, click the button below.
It is often a struggle for parents to find activities for teens in Victoria. There are municipally run teen centers but many teens do not find these programs engaging. Our outdoor leadership club for teenagers focuses on fun and providing teens with responsibility and independance! Teenagers in the program get together weekly, participate in fun activities and plan outings and expeditions. Surrounded by the wonders of Vancouver Island, the only limiting factor is their imagination.
"Landon has provided me with multiple amazing trips around Vancouver Island. He never fails to deliver a memorable experience. Landon provides professional and accommodating attitude that Let's you know you are in good hands while also going the extra mile to develop relationships with clients and teach them about natural history and local wildlife. I highly recommend Western Educational Adventures to anyone in search of an unforgettable experience in the outdoors."
-Graeme Broe
The two programs are very similar and are designed to increase responsibility and independence as youth age. The main difference is that older teens are expected to take on more of a planning role and are exposed to more career-based training such as resume building, while the younger juniors are being introduced to skills like planning, leadership etc. Some junior events also carry higher costs as more experienced staff are necessary. For the older teens, we can rely on parent volunteers to keep some costs down. Youth in both programs have the potential opportunity to volunteer or work for WEA during the summer and other programs.
As part of our program, we offer weekly fitness training to keep kids active and prepare them for trips. Mondays has the training as part of the meeting time. There is also an additional training session on Thursday evenings.
One of the pillars of our teen leadership program is to teach teens in Victoria how to effectively communicate and plan both logistically and financially. Supproted by our staff, the teens are responsible for planning and executing most of their activities and outings, including managning their personal calendars. Participants make both long-term and short-term plans for their programs. Event planning responsibilities are split between the group members. For example, if the group decides to plan a ski trip, one participant is assigned to determine lift ticket costs, another is responsible for determining accommodation costs, another for planning a fundraising campaign, etc. The final phase is running and attending the event.
Modern youth do not get very many opportunities to learn life skills including how to lead others, manage conflict and think for themselves. Western Educational Adventure’s Teen Leadership Club Program focuses specifically on these skills.
Each activity or event will be led by a different club member, from the planning phase through to the completion of the activity. Teens will debrief after every activity they planned and executed, talking about what they learned and how it can be applied in the future. In short, participants learn what it means to be an adult!
Teen participants learn most of the skills required to run successful backcountry and frontcountry trips for single and multi-days. Everything from making a meal plan to planning a route to cleaning up after it's all done. All of our participants come away from this experience with a serious outdoor, leadership and planning skill set.
• Budgeting • Logistics Planning • Time Management • Communication • Interpersonal • Leadership • Decision Making • Conflict Management • Group Management • Navigation • Canoeing • Kayakying • Skiing • Snow Shoeing • Camping Practices • Food packing • Cooking • Fire building • Knife and Stove Safety • Debriefing
The Victoria teen outdoor leadership club program is designed to maximize participant learning through experience. This can sometimes cause miscomunication between the teen leadership candidates and their families and therefore requires varying levels of involvement and understanding from the teen's family. Furthermore, the program fee paid at the time of registration is only for the program itself and does not cover most equipment and activity expenses. For more information about the program, please click on the "TL INFO PACKAGE" below.
The leadership program runs at Beaver Lake - Camp Kingswood, 611 Linnet Lane, Victoria BC.
The optional Thursday fitness program runs at Mount Doug Park in the Main Lot, Churchill Dr, Victoria.
Proper gear is mandatory for all trips. For the meetings a Water bottle, backpack, notebook, pen, tablet/phone/laptop, dinner or snacks, sunscreen, hat, rain jacket, rain pants (optional), running shoes, clothes suitable for running in and a change of clothes are required. The program will run rain or shine! Packing lists for individual trips are sent out in advance of each trip. Certain big-ticket items like a backpacking pack, sleeping bag, hiking boots, etc, will likely need to be rented from WEA or purchased for certain activities and events during the program. For more information about what is needed, please contact us.
Change of clothes, water bottle, sunscreen, rain jacket, fleece, athletic shorts, athletic t-shirt, trail runners, running shoes, backpack, snacks. For more information about what is needed, please contact us.
Western Educational Adventures takes safety seriously. Not only do we want our participants to have an exceptional time, but just as importantly, we want them to return home safe and sound. All of Western Educational Adventures staff are certified in high level first aid and have years of experience managing risk in the outdoors. You won’t find a more qualified staff team anywhere else!
Candidates must submit an application consisting of this form and letters. Youth will then need to complete an interview in order to be considered for the program. The purpose of the application process is to make sure youth actually want to be in our program and it is the right fit for them.
Fill in all required information.
At least one letter of reference from an adult unrelated to the candidate must be submitted. This includes coaches, teachers, scout leaders, etc.
Leadership candidates must write a one page (or less) email describing why the are interested in the program and why WEA should consider them. For younger applicants, this can be a short few sentences describing why they are interested.
A parent or guardian must write a breif email or letter describing why they wish their youth to participate and why they would be a good fit. They also need to explain that they understand the premise of the program and their role as a parent. This must be submitted to WEA via email.
Participants will be need to attend a 15 - 45 min interview.
WEA will consider the candidate's application and get back to the family as soon as we reach a decision.
If succesful, families will need to complete the registration and payment process within 5 days of acceptance.
**All personal information provided will not be shared with third parties unless it is relevant to the participants well being or quality of experience**
Fall day hike
Taking lead in the summer
On the water...
Guidin the youngins'
Learning wilderness navigation skills
Ski expedition - Mount Cain, Vancouver Island
Surf expedition - Tofino, BC
Assisting with a wilderness overnight
Newbe lessons from WEA's inhouse ski instructors
Advanced lessons from WEA's inhouse ski instructors
Prepping for canoe lessons
