From Farm to Forest
How Outing Club Advisor Brenda Weis Found Her Career in Outdoor Education
Brenda Weis is a veteran wellness education teacher and the Outdoor Club advisor at Cony High School in Augusta. While it’s easy to imagine this experienced club leader and educator has always had a connection to the outdoors, she said her passion for being outside didn’t fully develop until she was in college.
Weis, who grew up on a small farm in Wisconsin, said initially that she connected being outside with farm work. Playtime was limited to a creek down the road where she and her siblings would swim in the summer and ice skate in the winter.
When she started college at the University of Minnesota Duluth, she set her sights on Exercise Physiology, the study of how the body works and moves. During this time, Weis accepted a summer internship with the Directorate of Family Morale, Welfare, and Recreation with the U.S. Army in Colorado, where outdoor trips were planned for soldiers and their families. Weis said this was a pivotal time in her life. She learned to guide rafting trips, and also experienced camping and hiking for the first time. The internship led to more outdoor opportunities, including a programming internship at the YMCA and later, working at an Environmental Education camp. Her newfound love for the outdoors, as well as guiding others, made teaching her next goal.
When she arrived at Cony High School in the early 2000s, she took on a position for someone who had moved from the area. As it happened, that person was also the advisor for the Outdoor Club. At first, her biggest challenge was getting her students to attend club meetings. Weis said her students are often student leaders, who are involved in several other after school activities and sports. With this in mind, she decided to create informal meetings, where students would commit to just one club activity per month. Her students, she found, appreciated the low key atmosphere and the ability to relax and enjoy outdoor trips with peers.
Today, she continues to keep her club flexible with a few meetings throughout the year. Weis said the students brainstorm trip ideas, but also are happy to keep up a few annual traditions, like Teens to Trails’ Adventure Bound rafting trip and October Rendezvous. “Some of the kids also have connections to people and places, which provides unique opportunities, such as horseback riding at a local farm,” she said. Her students also explore spaces that are near to their school, including skating at the Ice Vault, biking the Kennebec River Rail Trail and paddling Tobias Pond.
With nearly 20 years of experience, Weis understands that her students need the outdoor time to connect with friends and enjoy some independence. “As long as we’re in a safe space, I just let them be, especially if they want to be silly. It’s so important for teenagers to have time together,” she said.
The inclusive, relaxed environment Weis has developed has created something truly special for her students — a love of the outdoors that is undeniable. “Once these kids get hooked,” Weis said, “they want nothing more than to spend every weekend together doing something outside.”
Want to learn more about becoming an inspiring Outdoor Club advisor like Brenda Weis? Join us for our Outdoor Leadership Conference.