Combined the AST staff has over 40 years of experience teaching
students, coaching athletes, guiding wilderness trips and leading
soldiers. We love young people and the outdoors. We believe in
effective teams and the ability to influence.
Ben
Smith graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point
in
2003. While there, he was a member of the Sport Parachute Team,
completing over 400 demonstration and competition jumps during his
career. He was commissioned in the Infantry, completed U.S. Army
Ranger School, and was stationed at Fort Carson, CO. Ben served
two deployments to Iraq with the Second Infantry Division. After
leaving the military this spring, he worked with Sarah designing
outdoor education programs and coached Boys Lacrosse at the Colorado Springs School. Ben is a certified Wilderness
First Responder.
Sarah
Apgar Smith graduated from Princeton University in 2002. She trained new leaders
for wilderness backpacking trips through Princeton’s
Outdoor Action program and served as team captain and two time All-American for the Women’s
Rugby and Alpine Ski Teams. She went on to be assistant coach for the Rugby and
Ski Teams before serving in the Army Engineer Corps for four years.
When she left the military, Sarah taught history to 7th and 8th graders
before starting TrailSmiths. She is currently a Wilderness First Responder, volunteer Red Cross First Aid and
CPR Instructor and certified Emergency Medical Technician.
Peter Harvey took on his role as Director of Hohliebi
Programs, AST's home in Switzerland, in 2003. He has a long history in
education following his graduation from Dartmouth College in 1990,
where he also served as an Assistant Teacher from 1986-1991. Peter
first connected with Hohliebi during his time at Dartmouth, teaching at
the Winter Term for 7th and 8th graders from 1989-1996. He and
his wife Anna then left Switzerland for Chicago, where Peter earned an
MM/MBA from Northwestern University in 1998 and worked as a Start Up
Consultant for Leadership for Quality Education in 1997. Finally, Peter
served as the Vice President of New School Development at Imagine
Schools Nonprofit for 10 years before settling in Switzerland full time
with Anna and their four boys.
Additional leaders are
recruited annually to guide Alpine overnights and cultural excursions, serve as mentors to students, facilitate leadership
discussions and serve as counselors at our base camp. Each is
certified in Wilderness First Aid and experienced with teenagers.
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