Band with your brothers.
Level up your life.
Now enrolling for
Vashon Harbor School Grades 4 – 6, and
Seattle Grades 6-8
Band of Brothers (BoB) is a community-based youth mentoring course for boys and young men. By integrating our Core Four, holistic development framework, Band of Brothers inspires engagement through mentorship, youth leadership, and dynamic in-person experiences.
Through regular in-person meet-ups and age appropriate challenges that will help boys navigate these turbulent times, Band of Brothers encourages a sense of purpose and belonging, cultivating deep bonds between peers, mentors, and elders.
For families looking to enroll in CIRCLES, our no-cost In-School Group Mentorship for Boys, click here.
The Core Four
Building Strength Through Balance
Band of Brothers is a dynamic, immersive experience that sets the stage for a solid start to young adulthood.
Through our Core Four framework, boys will be encouraged and supported to test their physical, emotional, social edges, a process that refines leadership and interpersonal skills and deepens strength of character, inspiring greater self-confidence.
BODY
Being physically healthy allows us to fully experience life, have more fun, and show up for our commitments.
We practice movement, games, breathwork, full emotional expression, and nature connection.
MIND
Navigating life today requires keen awareness, mental clarity and healthy self-esteem.
We practice mindfulness and approach challenge with a growth-mindset, creating a positive self-identity and fostering resilience.
HEART
The wisdom of the heart, of emotional intelligence, is essential to living a healthy, balanced life.
We practice emotional awareness and expression through personal check-ins, embodied expression, and by cultivating a sense of compassion through authentic connection and relationship.
GIFT
Each of us carries a unique set of innate abilities that our community needs to thrive.
This transformational mentoring course includes:
A Rites of Passage inspired course design to help boys navigate their authentic journey to young adulthood
Regular in-person meetups including dynamic team-building activities, outdoor adventures, and community service opportunities
Offline challenges that get boys into their bodies, into nature, and engaged in service
PLUS:
- Invites to Journeymen’s monthly community offerings, like our Play Days, Big Fire storytelling events, and more
Band of Brothers
Do You Hear the Call?Bring Out the Best
With the world shifting rapidly around us, Journeymen is leveraging the power of community to meet more boys right where they’re at – getting them into nature, engaging their bodies, and making deep connections with peers and mentors.
With playful adventure, heart-to-heart conversations, and engaging challenges, Band of Brothers helps boys navigate the turbulent times in their lives with a sense of balance, purpose, and confidence.
“Journeymen is changing the future for this community by inspiring and educating young men about the power they hold to impact their own fate and that of the world around them.”
– Superintendent of Schools
“We love the sense of empowerment that this gave to him. We can see a new sense of confidence and increase in self esteem both in his physical body and his emotional/spiritual self.”
– Parent
“There really are no words that do justice to how much gratitude I have for Journeymen to be a part of my son’s life – thank you – never underestimate the impact you are making in so many lives.”
– Parent
Band of Brothers schedule for 2021 – 2022 school year:
| BANDS | Days | Times |
|---|---|---|
| Vashon Harbor School – Grades 4th – 6th | Wednesdays | 3:15p – 4:15p |
| Seattle – Grades 6th – 8th | Fridays | 4p – 6p |
The Commitment
- Commitment to attend in-person sessions to the best of your ability
- Stay on-course with group agreements (formed at first meeting)
FAQ’s
- 1 in 3 young men have no positive male figure
- Boys with no role model are 2x as likely to turn to crime
- 1 out of 3 boys say they lack a sense of identity
- Boys are 3.5x more likely to commit suicide than girls
- Boys are less likely to apply to, attend, and graduate from college than their female peers
Recognizing that western society is struggling to properly welcome boys into manhood, Journeymen creates these necessary transformational experiences for adolescent boys to discover, refine, and amplify their authentic selves.
We encourage compassionate, inspired and resilient young men through nature-based rites of passage, mentorship, and community engagement.
Through these initiatives, Journeymen is deeply committed to fostering equitable and regenerative communities that address many of modern society’s most prominent issues, including sexual assault, violence against women, racism, and preserving and restoring natural resources.
Band of Brothers will start the week of September 14th and continue throughout the duration of the school year ending in June 2021. Enrollment for 2020 – 2021 Band of Brothers experience opens on August 26th.
Band of Brothers is offered to all Vashon boys in grades 4 through 12 and is free of charge. Enrollment in VISD is not necessary for participation.
Each Band will include up-to 20 participants, with two professional Guides leading their experience. For all in-person meetups, Band Guides will each work with half the group in order to keep group size and youth-to-adult ratios low. In-person group sizes will not exceed 10 youth total per group. As COVID precautions lift, more large group offerings will be offered, as well as inter-Band mentorship across the ages. Band of Brothers closely monitors COVID restrictions and as COVID precautions lift or shift, we will keep you informed and adapt accordingly.
The health and safety of our participants, staff, and our community is our first priority. We have developed our weekly Band of Brothers in-person meetups (and the overall program structure) based on the latest safety guidance from the Washington State Department of Health and the CDC.
Precautions listed below represent the latest guidelines from the Washington State Department of Health for our type of activity (Child Care & Youth Development) at the time of writing (Aug 2020). The document used for this planning and process can be viewed here. For the latest information on Washington State’s “Safe Start” Phases and re-opening as it relates to our activities please visit this link.
We also recognize that these guidelines can change quickly depending on the status of the virus in our state and country. We will only host offerings that we believe are safe for our community. If at any point it becomes clear that any of our program curriculum is not safe, we will either change or not facilitate those components.
List of Precautions we will be taking to keep both participants and staff safe:
- Health Screening: Mentors & Youth will complete a health screening each day at check-in, including temperature and symptom check, and must attest that they have not been exposed to anyone with COVID19.
- Groups: Boys will be organized into small ‘Band’ groups of no more than 10 youth for in-person meetups with up to two staff. In-person bands will remain consistent through the program duration.
- Masks: Mentors & Youth will be required to wear masks during all Journeymen in-person meetups with the exception of while eating and while outside at a distance of greater than 6ft apart.
- Outdoors & Social Distancing: Activities will take place outdoors as much as possible. Six-foot social distancing will be maintained indoors and outdoors whenever possible within each small group, and always when boys from different ‘Bands’ are together.
- Hygiene: Youth and mentors will be instructed in hygiene and illness prevention measures. We will have access to restrooms, handwashing, and hand sanitizer for in-person meetups.
- Cleaning: When using indoor spaces, only one group will be in a room together, and the room will be disinfected before another group uses that space. High-contact surfaces in shared bathrooms will be disinfected approximately every two hours. All shared supplies, equipment, and facilities will be disinfected between groups and at the end of each day.
- If Someone Gets Sick: Campers or staff who display illness symptoms will be sent home or asked to stay home. Families will be notified if a camper or staff in their child’s group gets sick, while maintaining privacy of the individual. A sick individual may not return to the program until they have met quarantine requirements or are cleared by a healthcare professional to return.
Journeymen Institute is not affiliated with any religious group or church.
We look to our external and internal environments for inspiration, wisdom, and guidance. Finding our place in nature is both fun and healthy.
Journeymen is able to offer Band of Brothers at no-cost to our community thanks to generous private contributions and support from Vashon Island School District. We are nearly half way to our fundraising goal for the school year. To help support Band of Brothers, please contact Executive Director Nicky Wilks at nicky@journeymen.us or Program Director Alex Craighead at alex@journeymen.us, or call Journeymen at 206-429-5203. All donations supporting Band of Brothers made through September 30, 2020 will be matched 100%. Journeymen Institute is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Donations to Journeymen are fully deductible as allowed by law.