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About Our Programs
Wander Yonder gives kids the freedom to explore! Our programs aim to connect the younger generation with the natural world through hands-on experiences in the outdoors. Wander Yonder is a mobile outdoor education provider, meaning that we provide programs at various locations in the Truckee and Reno areas. Our programs provide an opportunity for kids to get outside and immerse themselves in the world of nature. At Wander Yonder, kids are encouraged to be active observers, critical thinkers, and cooperative team-players.
Wander Yonder's science-focused curriculum is designed to encourage kids' natural curiosity, and use it to drive their learning. We use cooperative activities, hands-on experiments, games, and stories to provide an educational and fun experience in the outdoors. Our instructors empower kids to make their own discoveries; to ask questions, investigate, come to their own conclusions and share what they know with others. With nature as our classroom, we encounter countless opportunities for learning every day on the trail. Whether it's identifying animal tracks along our path, witnessing a hawk hunt its prey, or observing the behavior of butterflies, there is always something new to discover!
Meet the Director
Better known by her nature name, Kit Kat Kangaroo Rat, Kit Huntington has been working in the field of outdoor education for over 10 years. While working on her bachelors degree in English and Environmental Studies at Penn State University, Kit found a mentor in ecologist and professor Chris Uhl, who introduced her to concepts such as experiential learning, the nature-child connection, unschooling, place-based education, connected consciousness, and many other idealogoies that have helped shaped the core of Kit's teaching philosophy and overall way of being in the world. Kit became a teaching assistant for Uhl's intro level course BiSci 003, and after her first day with her own class of 12 freshman, Kit knew that she had found her calling.
Upon graduation, Kit moved to California, and it wasn't long before fate led her to cross paths with the second influential Chris in her life - Chris Giorni, founder of the Bay Area science education company Tree Frog Treks. Starting as an assistant teacher and working her way through a variety of roles to her eventual position of Education Director, Kit has gained a wealth of experience in all aspects of experiential education, including teaching, curriculum planning, parent relations, staff management, program development, and more.
As the covid-19 pandemic forced the world to adapt to a new way of life, Kit was at the forefront of adapting education programming as she worked full tilt with the folks at Tree Frog Treks to find a way to fill the needs of the countless families in need of childcare. In 2020, she was in charge of developing and facilitating covid-safe summer camp programming for Tree Frog Treks that served 900 San Francisco families, and successfully became one of the only large-scale summer camps to operate amid the pandemic.
The end of summer presented Kit with an opportunity to take the next step in her career and branch out with her own brand of outdoor education programming, and she officially founded Wander Yonder Wild School in August of 2020. Wander Yonder has already gathered a following in both Truckee and Reno through a successful first season of programming, and Kit looks forward to continuing to provide an opportunity to get kids out into nature for many years to come!