Ambrose is Tending the Spring

My name is Ambrose Clemons, I'm 15 years old, I use he/him pronouns, and this is my 4th year at Springhouse.

In my past GiveLocal story sections, I’ve written a lot about how soulless and detrimental my public and virtual schooling experiences were. I focused on the bad so that I could compare it with the wild joy and fulfillment that Springhouse has sparked within me. As I get older, public school becomes a distant past. It was very impactful, but it was only one third of my life. Now, my time at Springhouse is also about one third of my life. Everything valuable I experience here does not need a bad counterpart to make its contrast stronger. This is not just "another option," what we are doing is so much larger. I am not here because it's a choice. I am here because my connection to our values and purpose is what gives me hope for this world.

When I found Springhouse, my world changed. I remember crying in the car after my first visiting day because everything was so full of life. There was no separation, no hierarchy, students were given fair say in curriculum and in our structure as a school – If there were issues or something wasn’t working, it was addressed and altered to evolve in a meaningful way.

Among so many incredible things, most notably for me was the thriving queer community I was met with. I hadn’t seen many other LGBTQ+ people in-person at the time, so it shook me to my core to see people like me living rather than just surviving. I couldn’t process the idea of laughing, dancing, sharing meals, or enjoying life in general as a queer person in today’s society. I wasn’t sure I’d make it past 14, but these people in this place made it clear that I could survive. I did, and I will continue to live without shame or regret about who and what I am. 

Yes, I did arrive as a refugee from public schools, but over time I learned the real value and depth of this incredible place. It is vibrant, alive, vulnerable, powerful, sacred, unknown, ever-changing, and I am here for all of it.

I want to give special gratitude to the Springhouse staff. Watching them adapt and grow in an authentic way has driven me to develop my strengths, weaknesses, and love for myself – in the hopes that others will be inspired to do the same.

I’m incredibly grateful for all the alumni that have inspired me to become my own example of joy, my peers that I continue to mature alongside, my parents that continue to work endlessly in support of me, myself, and you – for making this possible. It would mean the world to me if you could donate and help sustain this incredible community. 

This June, Springhouse is raising $120,000 to sustain the staff, the land, and the practices that keep this community alive, and to support what's next, including working with land and creativity to grow food and make art, attuning to the seasons year round.

You are not just supporting an organization. You are tending a spring, one that nourishes our local community and ripples out, inspiring people and places beyond.

Every gift helps keep the spring flowing. Give Today!