The venerable Telluride Academy, with 25 years under its belt (and a grand total of more than 4,000 happy campers!), will celebrate its silver anniversary this summer, in (and with!) its hometown. Since its humble backyard beginnings, the academy has become the standard-bearer of experiential outdoor education in western Colorado; every summer, it has enrolled roughly 800 children and teens in its more than 100 programs. “I think it’s amazing that we’ve survived 25 years,” says Telluride Academy founder and board member Wendy Brooks. And now, she adds, “We have positioned ourselves to survive the next 25 years! “The Telluride Academy is a Telluride institution, at this point, and it has been amazing to be a part of it.”

In July, the academy will throw itself a 25th birthday party, with a weekend chock-full of celebrations that range from a community ice cream social to the unveiling of the

Telluride Academy Yearbook. The most unique part of the celebration? Probably when the academy welcomes a group of nearly 30 teenagers visiting from Bhutan, Viet Nam and Ireland – the largest visiting group of the academy's Global Mountain teens in its history. The academy will host the visiting teens as a thank you for the many years their countries have hosted Telluride Academy campers. This multi-national group reunites with American friends to participate in two weeks of activities and camping that culminate in an original and cultural open-to-the-public July 21 performance at the Michael Palm Theatre.

On Friday, July 29, the academy thanks the Telluride community for its 25 years of support with an afternoon ice cream social, free to all, at the Telluride gondola plaza.

The next day (Saturday, July 30), the academy hosts Family Fun Day at the Alta Lakes Observatory. Activities, demonstrations and a family-style barbecue will be open to all; that same night, everyone's invited to a party in the Silver Trestle building on Telluride's main street, with live music and cash bar.

So most of the month of July will be dedicated to celebrating the academy's last 25 years, featuring "a lot of the most interesting and exciting things we've done over the years," says Brooks. That includes "Global Mountain Theater, Family Fun Days, having our first-ever all-board and all-trustee gathering —

and premiering the yearbook.

"For all of those reasons, it's going to be an incredibly fun month of Telluride Academy on the streets of Telluride."

The Telluride Academy serves approximately 800 local, regional and visiting children and teens each summer in its more than 100 different programs. Its campus ranges from the San Juan wilderness to Utah's red rock canyon country, from the jungles of Central America to the high peaks of Southern Asia. Academy curriculum ranges just as wide, encompassing everything from the dramatic arts to rock climb

ing, wildflowers and whitewater.

A limited number of program spots are still available for children ages 4 and up in sessions that start June 13.