Building a better Thai through outdoor education

https://hwos.com/ 

I’m trying to send Thai here for a month when he graduates high school this June. It’s pricey and though he does have an amazing godmother willing to put down some cash on this, I’m reaching out to see if anyone else would be willing to
sponsor.

Some background on my boy: He was born in Costa Rica and spent the first few years of his life there. When we came back to the states to live it was a hard transition for him. When it came time to start school it got even worse. The first public school I enrolled him in spent one day with him and told me to wait another year. So I looked in to alternatives. We found Live Oak Charter school in Petaluma. A Waldorf inspired school. They took him in. His kindergarten teacher was a magical being who spent probably way more time than was required working with him. He was immediately put on an IEP so he could access more resources. Those first several years were so hard on us both. He doesn’t fit in the box in any way. Academically, he was always behind or struggling. He’s always been a kinesthetic learner and I realized too late that Waldorf was not the best fit for him. He’s an emotional, intuitive observer that takes a long time to process. What Waldorf did offer was lots of time in the outdoors and nature study. As well as a wonderful group of people, some of which I’m still very close to today. After my first DUI, I was directed to a special ed advocate and she changed our lives. She helped me, as well as Thai, navigate the school processes and gain more access to things that would help him. She got him in to the Diagnostic Center in Fremont and they did a 3 day study on him to determine his “issues” and ways of learning. It was 30 page report that fit him to a T. However, by 10 years of age it was hard for the teachers to utilize the information in order to help him. He ended up with lots of labels, but very little support. A couple of years later when he was 12, I ended up with my second DUI that landed me in jail and destroyed our lives as we knew it. Up until that incident, Thai had spent the bulk of his childhood outdoors. We lived in the country where he could climb trees, catch lizards and snakes, watch birds (“mom!!! Come look!! There’s a big blue bird with a black head!!” Never saw it. Took me years to figure out there was a lone male peacock in our neighborhood), play in the dirt, run around in his underwear, and do flips on the trampoline. He had a pretty nice childhood. When I went to jail everything turned upside down. He lost most his belongings and never got to set foot in our home again. He was displaced and living with his step dad and his new girlfriend. He shut himself off to the world and comforted himself with video games.
Fast forward to present day. He turned 18 last October and I don’t know what happened, but a switch flipped and he went from being my best bud to hardly speaking to me. From what I’ve deduced in talking to his counselor and teacher is that he’s terrified. He’s gotten it in to his head that he is supposed to have everything figured out by now. He feels scared and lost. He’s expressed regrets about hiding in video game land and has said he doesn’t even enjoy it, but that he doesn’t know what else to do anymore. In his effort to comfort his hurt he lost himself. Much in the same way I did with drugs. My hope is that spending a month at Headwaters will reconnect him to the part of himself that got lost. Give him a sense of who he is and a grounded start on adulthood. A breather before he sets out in the world.

I haven’t been the best of moms, we’re poor in Marin which is a challenge all on its own. If any of you that know and love us are in any position to sponsor this boy to a month of a rugged outdoor schooling, I would be forever grateful. Any amount would
help. Thanks to all of you who share this journey of life with us.