The Venture OUT Mentoring Program at BEAR is focused on empowering youth and broadening their horizons through mentoring activities that incorporate the benefits of being outdoors. The Venture OUT program has several opportunities for youth 10-17 years old to meet regularly with mentors throughout the year:
1:1 mentoring
School-based mentoring programs (after school groups for middle schoolers)
Peer Mentor Leadership Program (high schoolers)
Each group has individualized programming, and all groups are invited to on-going weekend activities, family events, and multi-day summer immersion camps. Each youth can do the amount and type of mentoring that works best for their needs and interests. Activities include river walks, mountain hikes, fishing, rock climbing, skiing/snowboarding, snowshoeing, skateboarding and more! Youth learn a variety of outdoor and interpersonal skills throughout their time with their mentors, all the while being focused on fun and healthy doses of challenge.
The Venture OUT program is adapted from Project Venture, a best-practices program created by National Youth Indian Leadership Project (NYILP). Project Venture is the first Native American model program recognized by Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) and National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP). BEAR combines the guiding principles of Project Venture with mentoring best practices to create a unique program for youth in the Bitterroot Valley.
Guiding Principles of Project Venture
Culture and Tradition
Strengths-based Approach
Experiential Education
Engagement with Nature
Service Ethic
Connection Building: Family, Community, and Culture
Challenge by Choice
Challenge by Choice is an important principle in outdoor-based mentoring. It is simple in principle, but complex in practice. At BEAR, we incorporate Challenge by Choice by empowering youth to choose their own level of challenge in all group or individual activities.
Full Value Commitment
This project was supported by Grant 2013-MU-FX-0016 awarded by the Montana Board of Crime Control (MBCC) through the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), US Department of Justice (USDOJ). Points of view in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the USDOJ or MBCC.
1:1 mentoring
School-based mentoring programs (after school groups for middle schoolers)
Peer Mentor Leadership Program (high schoolers)
Each group has individualized programming, and all groups are invited to on-going weekend activities, family events, and multi-day summer immersion camps. Each youth can do the amount and type of mentoring that works best for their needs and interests. Activities include river walks, mountain hikes, fishing, rock climbing, skiing/snowboarding, snowshoeing, skateboarding and more! Youth learn a variety of outdoor and interpersonal skills throughout their time with their mentors, all the while being focused on fun and healthy doses of challenge.
The Venture OUT program is adapted from Project Venture, a best-practices program created by National Youth Indian Leadership Project (NYILP). Project Venture is the first Native American model program recognized by Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) and National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP). BEAR combines the guiding principles of Project Venture with mentoring best practices to create a unique program for youth in the Bitterroot Valley.
Guiding Principles of Project Venture
Culture and Tradition
Strengths-based Approach
Experiential Education
Engagement with Nature
Service Ethic
Connection Building: Family, Community, and Culture
Challenge by Choice
Challenge by Choice is an important principle in outdoor-based mentoring. It is simple in principle, but complex in practice. At BEAR, we incorporate Challenge by Choice by empowering youth to choose their own level of challenge in all group or individual activities.
Full Value Commitment
- Be Here
- Be Safe
- Speak Your Truth
- Set Goals
- Care for Self and Others
- Let Go and Move On
This project was supported by Grant 2013-MU-FX-0016 awarded by the Montana Board of Crime Control (MBCC) through the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), US Department of Justice (USDOJ). Points of view in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the USDOJ or MBCC.