04/17/2026
A message from Scholarship recipient Kara Mc Mullen, a working member of the Friends of Panthertown Valley
Beckwith Scholarship Application, Landmark Foundation
I completed my first ever Wilderness First Responder course at Landmark Learning
through NOLS in March, 2026. I work for Friends of Panthertown as their trails and stewardship
director. In this role, I lead groups of volunteers, youth, and adults out into Panthertown for
different stewardship projects, trail maintenance, chainsaw work, youth education, and adult
interpretive education. Receiving the training that this Wilderness First Responder course
provided to me creates an environment when I am doing my work where I feel more safe and the people that come out with me feel more safe as well. I am beyond impressed with the knowledge and high level teaching that the instructors passed on to our class.
Because this course was hybrid, I was able to obtain all of the information while still keeping up to date with my job. I missed one week of work instead of two, which as a non-profit
employee, was so helpful to keeping projects and programs from getting behind. I also recognize that the environment that Landmark Learning provided, in the classroom and in the
“wilderness” setting, contributed to the value of the course. The facility was clean and welcoming and the surrounding environment gave our class a diverse training experience.
Thank you to the Landmark Foundation for providing me with this scholarship. It made this high
value training more accessible for Friends of Panthertown and will provide our organization with a new level of preparedness while out in the field.
Learning
of Friends of Panthertown Valley
