High Country Forest Wild
Former Staff
Our team is made up of many talented staff from year to year. Explore our alumni yearbook of former staff to remember those who walked with your children through the woods teaching them new ways to love it.
Hannah Wolfe (she/her)
Facilitator/Instructor
Hometown: Winston-Salem, NC
Hannah loves playing in, hiking in, teaching in and learning from the great outdoors. Thus, working at Forest Wild was a dream come true!
Hannah grew up in Winston-Salem with every single summer spent in Montreat, NC. She fell in absolute love with the mountains as a kid and hasn't left them since.
Hannah studied recreation management and outdoor education at App State, graduating in 2020. Since then, Hannah has been working at Forest Wild, doing yoga, listening to endless podcasts about the gut microbiome, and smiling daily at the beauty that is the Appalachian Mountains.
"You need only walk in mindfulness, making peaceful, happy steps on our planet. Breathe deeply and enjoy your breathing. Be aware that the sky is blue and the birds’ songs are beautiful.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh –
Kevin McDermott (he/him)
Facilitator/Instructor
Hometown: Davis, WV
Kevin completed his Bachelors in Sustainable Technology from Appalachian State in May 2021.
What he enjoys most about Forest Wild is seeing kids' eyes light up when they learn something new. He is continuously inspired by their ability to stay outside in any and all weather.
When Kevin is not at Forest Wild, he enjoys getting outside and interacting with wild landscapes via climbing, on the saddle of a bike or with a pack on his back.
"Be depressed, discouraged and disappointed at failure and the disheartening effects of ignorance, greed, corruption and bad politics -- but never give up."
– Marjory Stoneman Douglas –
Hazel Pardington (she/they)
Facilitator/Instructor
Hometown: Carrboro, NC
Hazel graduated from AppState in 2020 with her B.S. in Sustainable Development with a Concentration in Community, Regional, Global Development and a Gender & Women's Studies Minor.
In her free time, Hazel enjoys hiking, cooking, gardening, reading, cross-stitching, & drawing. She loves seeing kids become more confident in themselves in the outdoor skills we practice.
Hazel feels very lucky to be a part of their self-discovery journey. She hopes to facilitate a life-long curiosity about the natural world and a sense of stewardship in the outdoors.
"Healing begins with self-determination in relation to the body that is the earth and the body that is our flesh"
– Bell Hooks –
Kate Bridgers (she/her)
Facilitator/Instructor
Hometown: Cullowhee, NC
Kate studied at Appalachian State University in the Sustainable Development and Studio art departments.
She is originally from Cullowhee, North Carolina but grew up in Northeast California and Toronto, Canada. She loves being outdoors, working on organic farms, teaching yoga, painting and backpacking.
High Country Forest Wild has taught her the importance of self-guided exploration outside and in a community setting. Watching kids become more comfortable outside and confident in their abilities has been one of the her most rewarding experiences while working at HCFW.
Sydney Blume
Sydney finds great joy in gardening and being in forests. She graduated from Appalachian State in 2018 with degrees in Sustainable Development and Spanish with a focus on Indigenous Studies, and a whole lot of love and experience in outdoor recreation! She worked as a camp counselor teaching rock climbing, and then leading trips and working at the climbing wall at ASU. Her work since has involved organic gardening, education around agroecology and climate, and organizing for climate justice both here in Boone and in Southern Mexico. She is passionate about plants and their uses, foraging edible mushrooms (as pictured!), fermentation, climbing rocks and mountains, and building community with this abundant Earth. She is a long-time-lover of climbing trees, building forts, and wandering woods and is excited to do this in Forest Wild! Her ideal vision for the community would include a lot more Forest Wilds, food forests all over, and really great bike paths and trail systems for easy access to all our wild spaces.
LuAnna Nesbitt
As a recent graduate from Appalachian’s Sustainable Development Program, LuAnna has developed a deep passion for community development, social and environmental justice, and sustainable agriculture and living. She grew up in Asheville, NC, on her family’s small vegetable and dairy farm, with her eight siblings. This exposure to nature and farming from a young age instilled a passion in her to work towards a life that works in accordance to the environment, and sustainable development has given her the tools to do it. LuAnna has a strong passion for herbal medicine and healing that can be found through the plants in our Appalchian mountains. She worked as a Sustainability Ambassador for the Office of Sustainability at AppState, and has acted as a member and organizer of the Climate Action Collaborative, an environmental justice group in Boone, NC, for the past two years. She also has a passion for cooking, potlucks, running trails, foraging and exploring the woods.
Chloe Harris
Chloe is originally from the panhandle of Florida and has been living in the mountains for about 4 years now. They graduated from App State in 2018 with a degree in Outdoor Experiential Education. Since then, Chloe has worked for North Carolina Outward Bound School. In their spare time, Chloe loves to paint, craft and rock climb and work on my cooking skills. They are also a huge Dolly Parton fan!
Butler Mappus
Butler believes that the world is to be celebrated, and I am grateful to be able to share in that joy. Butler was raised down in Charleston, South Carolina, and moved up to Boone six years ago. Butler deeply respects the journey of birth and feeds this passion through apprenticing under a midwife. Butler works part-time at Be Natural Market where I pursue other passions including natural methods of healing such as herbal medicine and organic food. A few of Butler's favorite hobbies include being in the woods, collecting crystals, cooking creatively, learning about plants, and making herbal medicine. In Butler's spare time, they enjoy long hikes, card games, and laughing with their partner, Ben and dog, Hank.