Trailhead For Our Church and School Partners

为什么我的教会或学校要与Trailhead合作?

Trailhead extends the work of churches and Christian schools by helping high school students, 当它们进入下一阶段的旅程时, 全面考虑他们的生活, their faith, and their impact on the world.

High school youth are on a path that leads into new territory: unfamiliar and stimulating academic fields, troubling real-world needs, and exciting career possibilities. 但有很多方法可以使这种探索偏离轨道. 在成功的竞争中感到不知所措, 学生可能会忘记他们受教育的真正目的. 对新事物充满热情, students can forget the relevance of Christian faith to the ideas and problems they're pursuing. 一心一意地追求某一专业或职业, 学生可能无法看到和了解上帝丰富的相互关联的世界的全部. 由韦斯特蒙特学院和富勒神学院的教师领导, 圣巴巴拉ag娱乐官网的专业人士, 以及精神指导和职业发展方面的专家, Trailhead helps students envision a life of authentic Christian vocation—a life that draws all their interests, abilities, 对上帝在世界上的工作提出疑问.

How is the program structured?

Trailhead consists of an on-campus summer experience at Westmont and a yearlong mentorship with Trailhead faculty and partner churches or schools.

An intensive on-campus experience equips students with core tools and encounters: interaction with top Christian scholars, engagement with real-world problems, 对学生自身能力和兴趣的反思, 在一个充满活力的同事和同龄人的ag娱乐官网里有敏锐的洞察力. 在校园暑期体验之后, a yearlong mentorship program, facilitated by Trailhead faculty and adult mentors in students' churches and schools, supports students as they live out the lessons of Trailhead in their home context. For 2024, we’re offering a choice of three residency sessions: June 9-14, June 16-21, or June 23-28.

学生在校园体验中做了什么?

他们探索现实世界的紧迫问题.

从某种意义上说，基督徒的职业主要不是ag娱乐官网 us-关乎上帝呼召我们为之服务的世界. At Trailhead, Westmont and Fuller faculty lead students in exploring a selection of real-world problems from the perspectives of classroom, church, and community. On campus, faculty teams bring academic learning and theological reflection to bear on particular issues, investigating how Christian intellectual life can propel us into engagement with God's world. Then, 与圣巴巴拉地区的企业合作, non-profit, and ministry leaders, 学生们走进ag娱乐官网，面对面地面对这个问题. Finally, participants process and express the experience through concluding acts of worship planned and led by Trailhead students and faculty.

Example: 一位神学家和一位生物学家主持了一场ag娱乐官网创造关怀的对话, partnering with a local ecological organization to explore the Santa Barbara Channel, closing with an open-air worship service that celebrates God's creative work in the natural world.
Example: A sociologist and a computer scientist host discussion of technology and personal identity, partnering with a Christian psychologist to think about the benefits and costs of social media, closing with a liturgical service that gives thanks for the communities into which God calls us.

They learn more about who they are.

了解神的呼召往往始于了解我们自己. What do we do well? What brings us joy? Who are we as part of a community? With Westmont faculty, specialists in career counseling, pastors, and experts in spiritual direction, Trailhead students journal, paint, draw, play-act, hike, reflect, read, discuss, pray, and sit in silence, 所有这些都是为了突出他们的能力和兴趣, known and unknown.

他们建立关系，反思，享受乐趣.

Trailhead的核心内容是刺激和挑战, 但是很多实际的处理工作, internalizing, and carrying forward the Trailhead experience will happen in the spaces between the formal programming. In recreation, conversation, 以及韦斯特蒙特多山的校园内外的倒影, in excursions to Santa Barbara, 享受上帝创造中精致美丽的一部分, Trailhead的参与者作为一个基督徒ag娱乐官网一起实践生活, growing in faith, knowledge, and service.

为期一年的导师计划是如何运作的?

Through two mentoring relationships, students begin building a community of support as they embark on their vocational journeys.

Unlike a camp or a conference, Trailhead是一种扩展体验, begun in the on-campus summer experience and continuing in students’ home contexts in the following year. As the program continues at home, students will process and apply what they’ve learned in two mentoring relationships: one in small groups led via Zoom by Trailhead staff, and another in one-on-one meetings with an adult mentor from the student’s church or school.

What are the goals of Trailhead?

In a nurturing community, 学生了解自己和世界, gaining vocational direction, practicality, and faith resiliency.

Vocational direction: 我们相信“事工”并不局限于牧师或传教士的职业生涯, but can include a whole landscape of professional and non-professional pursuits. Trailhead models to students some of the many ways that faithful people might engage the world’s needs. As they draw connections between their faith commitments and their other passions, 学生准备对问题进行职业思考, challenges, 以及他们在大学及以后会遇到的各种可能性.

Practicality: Christians throughout the centuries have understood that spiritual growth and maturity don’t need to be vague abstractions, but can emerge from concrete, repeatable practices. Trailhead demystifies the process of becoming a mature Christian adult by giving students practical tools for advancing in faith, self-knowledge, and vocational direction.

Resiliency: 基督教会具有普遍性和多样性, 不受任何文化或表达形式的束缚. At Trailhead, 学生们会遇到许多参与基督身体的方式, 扩展他们未来参与ag娱乐官网团体的视野.

教会和学校如何与Trailhead合作?

通过提名、资助和指导.

Trailhead是一种持续至少一年的关系. With the Lilly Endowment, we see this as an investment, through your youth, 未来基督徒在世界上的仆人角色. Trailhead计划的许多成果将得以实现, 而不是在韦斯特蒙大学的校园里, 但在实习结束后的几个月甚至几年里, 当学生们回到家，并开始在环境中处理他们的经历. 这需要在Trailhead项目之间建立牢固的联系, families, pastors or teachers, and congregations or schools. To help foster these connections, we ask partnering institutions to observe the following practices in nominating, funding, and mentoring students.

Nomination: 尽管我们欢迎主动申请, we know that pastors and teachers are often in the best position to identify potential in their students and to help students integrate an experience into the ongoing life of their community. All Trailhead applicants must secure the nomination of a sponsoring pastor or teacher. 每个教会最多提名3名学生, and total program space is limited to approximately twenty-five participants per residency session.

我们希望你在选择学生提名时能有一点想象力. Trailhead can be a rich opportunity for students with conventional gifts for leadership. 但正如圣经所充分证明的, extraordinary charisma, extroversion, 或信心不是参与神的工作的先决条件. 在提名过程中，你可能会特别考虑以下学生：

who are quiet but thoughtful;
他们天生的热情可以从塑造和指导中受益；
他们对ag娱乐官网持怀疑态度，但提出了有意义的问题；
谁热衷于解决世界问题.

符合条件的学生将开始他们的大二, junior, 或者2024年秋天的高三, 7月2日满18周岁, 2024. We also have limited slots available for graduating seniors; please inquire with us. You can refer students using this form, and we will follow up with students about completing a short application form and obtaining a formal nomination from you.

Funding: 通过礼来基金会的慷慨捐助, 我们就能大大补贴Trailhead项目的实际成本. The final cost per student is $800; that fee covers room, board, and program activities. We strongly recommend that congregations or schools share this cost with families; again, 我们把Trailhead看作是对学生和教会未来的投资, 教会和学校可以很好地分享. Precise models, of course, 是否由派遣机构自行决定, but we might suggest that you:

在与家庭分担费用方面要有创意. 可能性可能包括筹集支助活动, 由宣教或门徒委员会赞助, 或是青年事工基金的奖学金. Trailhead itself offers a limited number of scholarships to students with exceptional need.
让学生与你的ag娱乐官网分享他们的经验. 适合这些融资模式, Trailhead might also be a good opportunity to showcase youth and their vocational development to your congregation or school—through a report to the session or board, 在星期日礼拜或礼拜堂的“宣教一分钟”, or another channel.

Mentorship: We hope that, 当Trailhead的学生从暑期实习回来的时候, 他们的经历将成为你所在ag娱乐官网生活的一部分, being contextualized in the student’s home setting and contributing to the mission of your church or school. To aid this process, we’re asking partner institutions to pair each student with a “home mentor”—a pastor, youth leader, teacher, or other adult who can commit to meet with the student at least five times between July 2024 and May 2025. Trailhead will provide mentors with suggested themes for conversation; we expect that total time investment for the year will be 8–10 hours. 学生将被要求确定一位家庭导师, 在他们的牧师或老师的帮助下, after they enroll in a residency. 在这里了解更多ag娱乐官网Trailhead的家庭指导计划.