Sharing our place
After finishing our first week of classes following winter break, the graduate students and staff at the North Cascades Institute had a fun and busy weekend, hosting instructors and staff from two other environmental education centers. The 4th Annual Instructor Exchange included IslandWood, Wilderness Awareness School and North Cascades Institute.
When everyone had arrived on Saturday, graduate students led a tour of our LEED certified buildings, giving the visiting students a chance to compare our classrooms, lodges and living spaces with their own. A social hour before dinner gave everyone time to start getting to know each other. Following dinner, we gave an introduction to our programs by sharing the Parks Climate Challenge video. Later, our Program Director, Laura Busby, shared more information about our adult and family programs, summer youth programs, and a little bit about Mountain School and the graduate program. We ended the evening with a trivia game, designed to test participants’ knowledge of the natural history of the region, as well as test their skills as environmental educators. Some of the challenges included identifying quotes from well known environmentalists, writing mission statements for ridiculous non-profits and composing and performing a new campfire song.
