GSTA Outdoor Academy
GSTA Outdoor Leadership Academy
The Gold Star Teen Adventures (GSTA) Outdoor Academy is a comprehensive program that is designed to achieve the pillars of GSTA in wilderness settings. Teens will find their confidence through the numerous challenges that the outdoors have to offer, will develop leadership and teamwork skills, will learn the skills of an outdoorsman, and will make lifelong friendships with other teens that have shared the same experiences. The Outdoor Academy Adventures are held every summer, with each component of training spanning one week. The main components of the program cover a broad range of skills. Our introductory adventure introduces teens to outdoor survival and camping fieldcraft, multi-day hiking, wilderness first aid, and white water rafting. The second adventure builds on the skills from the first adventure. This program is a week of intense, hands-on activities that will focus on wilderness first aid, advanced land navigation, back-country skills, and leadership training. On our third adventure we will head to the cliffs. This adventures focuses on enhancing the skills of new rock climbers. Teens will be exposed to top-roping, mock lead-climbing, rappelling, multi-pitch climbing, and exposure to rescue techniques. Our fourth adventure will take participants west to explore the rivers of the western dessert environment down the Green River in Utah. Teens will paddle roughly 45 miles in tandem canoes, suitable to carry enough food, water, camping, and cooking equipment to make the paddling experience rugged and authentic. Our outdoor program is designed to enhance teen’s leadership abilities throughout. This entire experience is life changing, and assured to help teens learn about themselves, and learn and develop skills that will serve them throughout their lives.
Outdoor Leadership Adventure 101
FORT BRAGG, NC & FRANKLIN, NC | JULY 28 - AUG 3, 2023
Gold Star Teen Adventures (GSTA) will be offering the opportunity for 15 teens to participate in a week of exciting and challenging outdoor activities to include survival training with United States Army Special Forces instructors, multi-day canoe trip that will cover 25 miles of the French Broad River in western North Carolina. This event will also focus on developing leadership skills and opportunities for personal growth. This is all-expenses paid trip that will start at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and will end in Franklin, North Carolina. Youth will practice and experience exciting outdoor front country and backcountry activities while being individually and collectively challenged with leadership and team building opportunities by qualified and caring staff, instructors, and mentors. Our goal for attending youth is to provide healing, opportunity, character and leadership development, and mentorship. We do this by creating an environment that promotes teamwork, self-discovery as well as social, emotional and intellectual growth. This adventure is a component of the GSTA Outdoor Academy.
Wilderness First Aid & Swift Water Rescue Adventure 201
FRANKLIN, NC | JUNE 27-JULY 2, 2023
GSTA will be holding the Wilderness First Aid Leadership Adventure. This will be a week of intense, hands-on activities that will focus on wilderness first aid, advanced land navigation, back-country skills, and leadership training. Apart from training, participants will be challenged with multiple events that will require the application of first aid skills, leadership, and teamwork. At completion of the adventure, Gold Star teens will earn a American Red Cross Wilderness and Remote First Aid and CPR certification, and will have advanced their leadership, communication and teamwork abilities.