Value 01
Leave the lake better
We move through Saguaro Lake + the Lower Salt every week. We pick up what we find, document what's changed, and put more back than we took out.
Stewardship · community + accessLift the next
Lift the next
paddler up.
The community + access side of the academy. The Coach Path. Adaptive + DDD-funded cohorts. The volunteers + sponsors who keep every scholarship seat funded. The work of keeping the boat ramp open to families the standard system makes harder to reach.
What Stewardship is
Open the boat ramp, build the next coach.
Three concrete jobs: build credentialed instructors over a decade (Coach Path · age 14 Peer Mentor → ACA Master Coach above 18), serve students whose sensory profile or funding rail makes the standard cohort the wrong fit (Adaptive · DDD-billed via Cortica, Choice Care, Mentor AZ), and fund the scholarship seats every cohort holds open (Volunteers · Sponsors).
Value 02
Lift the next paddler up
The Instructor Career Path, the Peer Mentor pathway, scholarship seats, adaptive ratios. We don't guard the boat ramp — we hold the door open and pay for the board.
Value 03
Tell the truth
In coaching, in funding, in board governance, in safety calls. The hardest truth is still cheaper than the cheapest lie. Especially with kids in the water.
Every Stewardship offering
Five pathways in.
5 ways to participate. Some are for students (Coach Path · Adaptive). Some are for the adults and businesses who keep the boat ramp open (Volunteer · Sponsorship).
Cohort or drop-inSensory-friendly
Adaptive + DDD-funded
Same curriculum as the standard cohorts at smaller ratios (1:1, 1:2, 1:3) — sensory-friendly pacing, Adaptive Recreation-endorsed lead. Two funding tracks on one page: private / ESA / scholarship, or DDD-funded therapeutic recreation billed under HCBS Code H2014.
Inquiries open · ESA + DDD
Tuition
$395–$525 / session · DDD billed
Varies by levelYouth 8+
ACA Certifications
Federation-recognized credential pathway — Youth Skills Assessment (8+), ACA L1 + L2 Instructor, Swiftwater Rescue, Adaptive Paddling.
Rolling enrollment
Tuition
Varies · ESA + scholarship
Multi-year pathwayAges 14+
Instructor Career Path
The 6-tier coach development ladder — Peer Mentor at 14, paid stipend at 16, ACA Master Coach at the top.
Applications open
Tuition
Paid stipend at 16+
2–4 hr shiftsAdults 18+
Volunteer
Paddle parents who keep cohorts + river days running. Six roles per shift — pump crew, basecamp, lab-kit lead, photographer, pack-out, field-science co-teacher.
Shifts posted weekly
Tuition
On the water with us
Per cohort or annualIndividuals
Sponsorship
Fund scholarship seats. 100% of sponsor dollars route athlete-direct; coach pay comes from tuition, not from sponsors. Six tiers, $895 to $25k.
Open tiers
Tuition
$895–$25k
Hold the door
open.
Walk the Coach Path. Inquire about an Adaptive seat. Volunteer for river days. Sponsor an athlete.