SoulLight Shadegivers
Life & Leadership Skills
for High School Students
Now enrolling!
Now enrolling!
A workshop for girls and non-binary teens to connect with nature and deepen their relationship to self and others through embodied IFS therapy practices with Associate Marriage & Family Therapist, Marisa Halperin!
Thursday October 24th, 7-9pm, $150
Program Overview
September 2024 - May 2025
Workshop & Retreat dates below.
SoulLight Shadegivers offers high school students a chance to develop life and leadership skills through workshops and retreats, and to put those skills into action for personal and community healing.
This program cultivates a community of care& learning in a close-knit group of mentors and peers, with the goal of protecting and restoring well-being in our selves, ecosystem, and community!
Workshop & Retreat Offerings
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Workshop Series: Mind & Body Love, a 3-Workshop Series. Thursdays, 7-9pm
Join us for a 3-part workshop series on somatic and mental health.
Workshops include:
- Thurs, Oct 17th: Befriend Your Parts: Internal Family Systems w/Marisa Halperin
- Thurs, Oct 24th: Befriend Your Parts: Internal Family Systems w/Marisa Halperin
- Thurs, Nov 7th: Body Love & Liberation w/Talia Cooper
Location: Berkeley/Oakland, TBA
Full Cost: $400
Single Workshop: $150
Capacity: 12 teens
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Workshop Series: Empower Your Life: Organization & Self-Advocacy for Teens & Parents, Thurs 7-9pm, Sun 10am-12pm
Teens: Want to learn how to more effectively manage your time, projects, and stress?
Parents: Want to learn how to support your uniquely wired kid, with less fights?
Join us for an interactive workshop series with organizational coach Molly Shapiro & Classroom Matters Founder Tatiana Guerrero-Ramos to gain tips and techniques for prioritization, work-space organization, self advocacy, and emotional regulation.
Parent Workshops: Supporting Your Uniquely Wired Kid (Thursdays, 7-9pm)
- Thursday Oct 10th, 7-9pm: Emotional Regulation & Distress Tolerance
- Thursday Oct 17th. 7-9pm: Setting Up an Effective Workspace & Routines
Teen Workshops: Empower Your Life & Get Organized! (Sundays 10am-12pm)
- Sunday October 6th: Prioritization, Time Management, & Values-Based To-Do Lists
- Sunday, October 13th: Emotional Regulation & Distress Tolerance
- Sunday, October 20th: Self Advocacy at Home, School, and Beyond
- Sunday November 17th: Focusing Techniques & Accountability
Location: Classroom Matters
2436 Sacramento St, Berkeley 94702
Parent & Teen Series (6-Workshops): $750
Just Teen Series (4-Workshops): $500
Just Parent Series (2-Workshops): $350
Single Session Drop-In Rate: $150
Capacity: 12 teens; 12 parents
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Workshop: Social Justice Activism! Sunday Oct 13th 10am-12pm
This workshop will support teens to explore themes and questions pertaining to leadership and activism in the areas of social and environmental justice. Guest educators, including experienced organizer Eva Orbuch and a guest youth activist will introduce teens to key leaders, movements and concepts in social justice organizing, and guide them through exercises in self inquiry to discover where and how they might fit into the movement where they live.
Location: East Bay, TBD
Workshop Cost: $180
Capacity: 12 teens
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Workshop Series: Making & Taking Plant Medicine, Thursdays 4-6pm
Medicinal plants are all around us. Learning to recognize and respect their healing properties and teachings is one of the most empowering things we can do from within the structures of capitalism to avoid outsourcing the care of our bodies to corporations and elite academic institutions.
Join us for a 3-part workshop series w/Courtney of Sol Root Medicine & Ruthie Praskins of Wyld Rootz as we delve into the mystery and magic of working with plants as allies and doctors, right in the places we live.
Dates: Nov 14th, Nov 21st, Dec 12th
** Thurs, Dec 12th is a special Wild Winter Treats Baking Workshop!
Location: East Bay, TBD
Full Series Cost: $500
Individual Workshop: $180
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Speaker Series: Activism for Social & Environmental Justice, Spring, Dates TBA.
Coming soon for Spring...
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Workshop Series: Creative Writing & Self Expression, Spring TBA
Coming soon for Spring...
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Workshop: The Art of Hosting & Gathering -Spring TBA
How to Host a High Vibrations Party taught by the legendary Nina Kravetz, creator of Big West Wine Fest, host extraordinnaire & curator of immaculate vibes!
Location: TBA
Full Cost: $150
Scholarship/Sliding Scale: $75 - $125
Capacity: 8 teens
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Beginner Backpacking Retreat, Date TBA
TBA - Coming Soon for Spring!
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Got an Idea for a Workshop?
Don't see your dream workshop or retreat here? Pitch your idea and Sammy will do her best to make it happen!
1-1 Coaching
1-1 Coaching
Does your teen need support, as they set goals and begin planning for their future?
Infamously known as the year where “things really start to matter,” junior year can bring many opportunities for expansion & self growth, as well as intense anxieties.
Individual coaching (indoor) & Ecotherapy can help your teen reflect and set goals, while still setting aside time to take care of themselves. Give your teen the gift of feeling supported as they meet new challenges and begin to forge their own path.
90-min Sessions: Sliding Scale $125 - $175
Pack of 6-Sessions: $550
Pack of 10 Sessions: $950
Youth & Community Service Internships
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Internship: Youth Mentor
Get experience working with youth while strengthening your resume for college!
Commitment: 2 afterschool sessions plus prep & debrief meetingsfor a total of 6-8 hrs/month.
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Internship: Gardens for Justice!
Get hands-on experience and individual mentorship in a local environmental justice organization!
Flexible hours, minimum commitment of 6hrs/month.
Who is this for?
This program is great for teens who:
Want to form new connections within a network of socially engaged peers and mentors who share their interests and passion for environmentalism and social justice.
Are beginning to think about college or whatever comes after high school, and want to gain real world experience to clarify their interests and strengthen their extracurricular resume.
Have leadership potential and/or creative ideas for how to positively impact their school, community, and ecoystem, but want support putting their ideas and passion into action.
Are excited to get exposure to social and environmental justice issues here in the Bay Area, and to get their hands dirty taking direct action to support these movements for community healing!
Program Benefits
Parents of youth enrolled in Soul✴Light nature-based mentorship programs consistently report their kids returning home from sessions “more grounded” and in better moods.
Some parents have gone so far as to describe the programs as “life saving.”
Over the course of the school year, participation in a Soul|Light program helps kids feel more happy and socially confident, and less anxious, depressed, or isolated on their screens.
After spending time in their Soul|Light group, you may notice that your adolescent kid or teen:
Returns home from sessions happier and more socially engaged.
Displays a sense of calm, grounded-ness, and relaxation.
Utilizes effective communication skills to express their feelings and needs!
And you may also find joy when your kid or teen…
Recognizes local plants, animals, and fungi in their backyard and local trails.
Asks to go hiking or to spend more time in nature.
Seems more confident, comfortable in their skin, and engaged with life!
Societal/Community Benefits:
Besides helping kids feel better, there are many societal benefits to raising a generation of young people who care about nature. While many teens experience anxiety and pressure related to climate change and ecological collapse, Soul|Light offers them concrete skills and inspiration to take action for planetary healing and to protect our watershed, food-shed, and wildlife habitat… in community!
We protect what we love… when the land thrives, we thrive!
What Parents & Participants are Saying…
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“I love the way you hold space with confidence and compassion. I am SO happy our girls get to work with you ... you are the biggest silver lining of COVID in our lives!”
- Jackie S.
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"I love my mentor. When I'm with her, I feel safe."
- Rickie S.M.
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"If every teenager could talk to Sammy for an hour, the world would be a better place."
- Charla S.
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"Sammy is an amazing mentor. She shares from her own experiences the challenges that she's faced and overcome, and has an amazing network of peers who know things that young people are fascinated to learn. Things that they're not going to learn at school: like how to find food and medicine that might be right under your feet..."
- Taj J.
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"Sammy is so amazing. She's a great listener and a great help. She's helped us create a community where we can truly be open about anything."
- Sophie P.
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“I can’t begin to express how happy I am my daughter was a part of this program! I was brought to tears multiple times hearing her say things like, ‘I look forward to my days!’ and ‘I’m so happy!’ I see her light shining in a way I hadn't for a long time."
- Amber S.
About your lead mentor and facilitator
Sammy Kanofsky is a Bay-Area born nature lover and guide, with a passion for ecological care and youth empowerment that has been alive in her for over three decades.
Sammy is known for her warm and inclusive facilitation style and her love of mentoring young people to feel proud of who they are, meltdowns and all!
Sammy holds a BA in Environmental Analysis from Pomona College, a Certificate in Conflict Resolution from AIES (Arava Instite for Environmental Studies), and a Certificate in Ecopsychology from the Holos Institute. She brings over 20 years of experience working in experiential education, community building, leadership development, and communication coaching with training in conflict mediation, mindfulness meditation, yoga, reiki, and motivational interviewing.
Sammy takes pride in having learned how to truly love and listen to her self, the land, and other living beings. She created Soul|Light to draw from her overflowing cup and invite others to find joy, peace, and belonging in nature.
