Adventure Education

Ted Davis

Ted Davis

Ted Davis

Ted Davis was one of the first two students to attend Sedona Montessori/Sedona Charter School from preschool through 8th grade, finishing in 2003.

These were the years we nicknamed SCS “school on the move.” Without a permanent home, Ted’s classroom was at different times at the Sedona Public Library, at Red Rock State Park, in the old school district gymnasium at Brewer Road, on a school bus, in two different churches, and in modular buildings at two different locations before we completed our Kachina Drive campus in 2001.

“I really loved it,” says Ted. “My time at Sedona Charter was true experiential learning, and learning by doing. I think it definitely influenced the career I chose—adventure education.”

Ted Davis in 2015

Ted Davis in 2015

After completing his SCS education, Ted spent two years at Sedona Red Rock High School and won a Rotary scholarship to spend a year abroad in India. When he returned to Sedona he completed high school at Verde Valley School, where he was senior class president and one of the school’s first students to study in the International Baccalaureate program.

He graduated from Prescott College in 2012 with a B.A. in Therapeutic Use of Adventure Education and a minor in Ecopsychology. As part of his coursework, he returned to SCS to spend four days observing the Lower Elementary classroom. “It reminded me how I had struggled with reading and writing at first. Bob and Terri’s patience was so important in giving me a foundation that I could build on. I still remember all the grammar shapes and see them in my mind to this day when I visualize sentences!”

Today, Ted is in his fourth year at Santa Fe Mountain Center, where he works as a project coordinator and operations assistant. With a staff of 25, this non-profit organization serves more than 10,000 people a year, offering incarcerated and at-risk youth and adults the opportunity to grow through experiences in rock climbing, whitewater rafting, and backpacking. “We are the first organization in the country to receive federal funding for experiential education as a behavioral service,” says Ted. “I am so fortunate to have a career where I spend time outdoors and get to provide experiences that help people better understand themselves. It is exactly what I want to do.”