In October of 2005, Mod, Ty, Andy and our dear friend Kate Weir, incorporated True North and began to build a wilderness program. Andy had offered to come to Vermont for a few months to help us get up and running, and would go on to stay for nearly 3 years. We spent hours and hours together during those first few months, writing curriculum, selecting the menu, shopping for and field testing gear and clothing, establishing campsites, printing maps, and exploring the hopes and dreams we had for each student and family that would walk through our doors. Our first student arrived in a snowstorm, just a few days before Christmas and True North was officially launched.
12 years later it is incredibly rewarding to reflect on those early days, working together with close friends to build a dream. True North has always felt like a family and we continue to feel grateful for our incredible team and the hard work and vision that our staff bring to True North every day. Mod and Ty continue to be involved in every aspect of True North, Andy returns to True North regularly in a variety of capacities in the midst of his world travels and ongoing professional development, and Kate remains our dear friend, having moved to Bar Harbor, Maine with her family so that her husband could pursue a career in boat building, a few years after starting True North.
Our original values remain core to our philosophy today; to build and sustain community, provide the very best assessment, intervention, and transitional support, inspire, guide, and promote personal growth for our staff, ourselves, and our clients, and to be responsible stewards of our environment. As we enter our 13th year of operation, we are excited to see how True North will continue to grow and we continue to feel gratitude for this unique and rewarding work, and for the incredible people that we meet every day.
