Old Souls and New Leaders: Emily Stokes
Old Souls and New Leaders: Emily Stokes
a Carolina Paddler article
by Alton Chewning
Emily Stokes knew how she wanted to learn and was looking for a new program to try. She was a student at Asheville High School and did okay in her academic studies, but she found a steady stream of classroom work to be stifling. Emily’s parents, Stewart and Tracy, were open to pursuing other ways for their daughter to learn. Emily had spent a semester at the Outdoor Academy, a “semester school” in Pisgah Forest, NC. She loved the experience. Stewart recounted, “We discovered along with Emily that she thrives in alternative and experiential learning environments.” What would be Emily’s next step?
Tracy worked as a kayak instructor with Juliet Jacobsen-Kastorff at Endless River Adventures and happened to mention Emily was looking for another outdoor adventure school. Juliet remembered the impression Kristin Chewning Bierle had made on her, and she knew Kristin and her husband, Sean, had an opportunity that would be perfect for Emily – the Alzar School.
Stewart offered, “Along the way we learned about Alzar and began to consider Emily’s attendance there for the spring semester of her junior year.” Emily added, “I knew after Outdoor Academy I wanted to spend a significant part of my life being an outdoor guide, either working at one of these schools or being an educator.”
While on summer vacation, Emily and her parents visited the Idaho campus and met Kristin and Sean. They liked what they saw. Emily learned the Outdoor Academy and Alzar were members of the Semester Schools Network, an affiliation of alternative schools. Alzar offered strong academics and rigorous outdoor adventure experiences. Emily admits, “Spending six weeks in Patagonia was also a major draw to going to Alzar. That was huge.”
Come spring, Emily was off to Patagonia to join thirty-five other high schoolers. Her class was the first to use the new Patagonia campus. “Living on a lake, with gorgeous crazy mountains. Because of the climate you’re guaranteed rainbows most days. The classrooms have these massive windows that take up a whole wall, so you can be in class and look out and say, Wow.”
In the six weeks in Chile, “We did a week-long backpacking trip and then a week-long kayaking trip on the bright-blue Rio Baker. Absolutely stunning. Only one other classmate had kayaking experience. We had a couple of surprises. Lots of wind. Due to the water being higher than expected on the Rio Baker, one of the two big rapids we encountered turned into a big class III. We had multiple swimmers, but all popped up with big smiles on their faces!”
“One thing Alzar taught us about leadership is the importance of setting a good example. I think we all tried to stay calm to help create a good space for people who were more scared. All in all, it was fun to be with everyone, fun to see everyone picking up a sport that I was passionate about.“
Academics kept pace. Average class sizes were 6-8. “During history lessons…. They covered the necessary material so it counted as high school credits for states like Oregon, North Carolina and New York. And they also taught things about Chilean history. In Spanish class we had assignments to go into town to ask questions of local people. Interviews with locals. In English class we read a book set in Chile. They integrated the lesson to the place. Same in Idaho. We read a book that took place in the Idaho valley where we lived.”
Emily admitted she would have appreciated more mingling with Chilean people and culture. The campus, beautifully situated, is an hour from the nearest town so visits were limited to weekends. “Realistically, it’s hard to make interactions happen because of the academic certification requirements and the schedules of 36 high schoolers. There is a balance to be had.” Two Chilean students were part of the class, bringing their knowledge and customs. Alzar continues to explore ways to bring students in contact with local people and traditions.
Emily’s experience was unique in other ways. “It happened during Covid. About two days before we left Chile, Kristin got us all together and said ‘there’s this disease that’s going around. You might hear about it at the airport. Kinda like the flu. Something to be aware of.’ When we came home, we went through Seattle and saw lots of people with masks there. When we got to Idaho we were only there for about 10 days. We spent the rest of the semester on-line.”
“They did a good job of keeping all of us in touch. Keeping us together. Some of our groups would do cooking classes online, all sorts of stuff. We stuck together. The following summer we did one more expedition together, like a reunion none of us had to plan. It was perfect. It took place in Idaho. One week of backpacking, one week paddling on the Middle Fork of the Salmon. The Middle Fork was the best thing ever.”
Emily feels the Outdoor Academy semester had the bigger impact on her because it was her first exposure to an alternative learning experience. She quickly adds, “Alzar made me value leadership skills a lot more because that was something stressed upon us. During our expeditions we have a Leader of the Day. You have a person who decides what time to wake up, what time you have breakfast, how many miles you’re hiking, all the tiny decisions, looks at the map, make sure you’re going the right way, then at the end of the day you would get feedback from every member of the group and the instructors. This is what went well, this is something you can work on. Their feedback was helpful with working on our leadership skills.”
Juliet has much praise for Kristin, Alzar’s co-founder and Executive Director. “Kristin is such a positive role model for female boaters, young women needing to step out of the shadows and use their leadership skills, and mothers trying to balance out the many responsibilities of being a mother, a wife and a business owner.”
What does Emily think about Kristin? “The sweetest human I have ever met in my whole life. She’s just fantastic. She felt like a mother to everyone there. Lots of people with home sickness. And she brought a peaceful sense of leadership to the group everyone fed off. Here’s an example.”
“We were on the summer expedition after Covid. Went on a backpacking trip around McCall, Idaho and one of our instructors got really sick. We had to evacuate him. We were several miles from a trail head and he was dizzy and had trouble walking. It was quickly becoming a tense situation. Kristin came to the rescue. She ran up the trail to us and quickly shifted to this calm, composed approach. “Hey there, my name is Kristin Bierle.” She started arranging helpers to carry him in shifts. Asked other instructors questions. It was textbook in assessing a situation and dealing with it. In addition to that she was counseling all the students who were feeling all sorts of emotions, because many things had happened prior to this. She really took care of the situation.”
In the spring of 2023, Emily Stokes was in Durango, Colorado, pursuing her ACA level 4 whitewater kayaking instruction certificate. Her teacher, Kent Ford, said, “Emily is a fine example of the next generation of instructional excellence in paddlesport. It is amazing the difference that fine instructors like her can make in a paddler’s boating, safety, and confidence in just a few days.”
Emily summarizes, “I am twenty now. A combination of Covid and Alzar put me where I am today. As a freshman in high school, I thought I would be in a college sorority pursuing a nursing degree and now I’m quite far from that. The combination of those two things, Alzar and Covid, taught me there are more things in life that just doing what is expected of us. I’m living a creative lifestyle. Now I totally have a fire lit inside me to teach and explore.”
Emily Stokes is currently a ski instructor at Steamboat Ski Resort and a kayak instructor at Mountain Sports Kayak School in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. She is considering a move to Washington and is brushing up on her Spanish.
See both articles:
“Old Souls and New Leaders: Kristin Chewning Bierle”
“Old Souls and New Leaders: Emily Stokes”