Summary
The Residential Apprenticeship Program is a rigorous curriculum of outdoor education designed specifically to instruct present and future professional outdoor instructors, guides, counselors, teachers, and those who want to live these skills every day. Although there are routinely scheduled days off for rest and recovery, this is a FULL TIME residential experience. You will be trained by Michael Douglas.
2025 Residential Apprenticeship Program semesters:
Spring / Summer Semester
- Date: 16 May – 9 July 2025
- Tuition: $5,000
Summer / Fall Semester
- Date: 8 August – 1 October 2025
- Tuition: $5,000
The Skills covered in the Apprenticeship are developed through hands on experiences and directed toward specific learning outcomes related to producing a well rounded, skilled practitioner capable of demonstrating and sharing skills in natural settings.
- Full Immersion in nature for 6 months, demanding daily hands-on application of skills learned.
- 40 plus hours applying essential outdoor skills each week.
- In total, over five hundred hours of direct instruction are provided with resources for further self study.
- Performance Indicators (benchmarks), Peer Reviews, and Student Portfolios are utilized as evidence of competency in specified areas of focus. (More info here
- Ten Performance Indicators Areas of Study: (Example Rubric: Fire)
- Awareness
- Shelter
- Water
- Fire
- Food
- Self-Reliance
- Wildlife Tracking
- Ethnobotany/Herbalism
- Mentoring
- Maine Guide Practices
This experience, upon successful completion, is designed to provide a solid foundation of basic to advanced skills in the out of doors. The focus of the apprenticeship program is to develop a professional outdoor educator with a high standard of field craft and a practiced set of reliable tools as an educator.
For more information about the apprenticeship send an email to staff@primitiveskills.com