Chattermarks

North Cascades Institute is pleased to announce Summer 2012 Applications are available online for high school students interested in the Cascades Climate Challenge or North Cascades Wild programs. Both programs are tuition-free and focus on leadership, community, stewardship, outdoor skills and connection to the natural world through wilderness experiences in North Cascades National Park and Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

A CCC student takes a moment to appreciate the small wonders of the natural world while studying climate change.

Cascades Climate Challenge (CCC) students will spend three weeks camping, canoeing and backpacking while working alongside natural resource managers and Institute staff learning the science behind climate change and how students can effectively communicate ways to mitigate the effects of a changing global climate on human communities. Upon returning home, students design and implement a service-learning project in their community teaching others about ways we can address climate change. In November they will be encouraged to attend the Youth Leadership Conference in the North Cascades to share their experience with other youth. Applications for CCC are due March 30th.

NC Wild students on board the NPS Mule on Ross Lake.

North Cascades Wild features 8- and 12-day summer wilderness expeditions in North Cascades National Park and Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Students canoe, camp, backpack and complete conservation service projects while developing leadership skills and learning about the local natural and cultural history of the North Cascades region. The program includes spring and fall monthly field trips for students from Skagit and Whatcom County, WA, a fall reunion and a Youth Leadership Conference at the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center. Students currently in any grade in high school from WA and OR are eligible to apply. Applications for Skagit/Whatcom students are due February 16th while students from the rest of WA and OR are due March 30th. 

Applications are found on our website along with quotes, photos, blogs and video!!

North Cascades Wild Information and Application

Cascades Climate Challenge Information and Application

Youth Leadership Conference

Teachers – Stay tuned for news of a climate change teacher training opportunity this August with North Cascades Institute!

If you have any questions please feel free to call or email Aneka Singlaub (email: aneka_singlaub@ncascades.org; 360-854-2595) regarding Cascades Climate Challenge, or contact Amy Brown, North Cascades Wild Program Coordinator, regarding North Cascades Wild (email: amy_brown@ncascades.org; 360-854-2582). Thank you.

Leading photo of NC Wild students after successfully summiting Desolation Peak in North Cascades National Park. All photos courtesy of North Cascades Institute.

Psychologist Warren G. Bennis once said, “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” Sixty-three high school and college students and fourteen conservation organizations did just that November 11-13th for the second annual North Cascades Youth Leadership Conference. Brought together by common goals to improve their leadership skills, learn about future opportunities, and reconnect after their original conservation experiences, these dedicated individuals were the heart and soul of the weekend. Hosted by North Cascades Institute in partnership with North Cascades National Park and Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, the second annual conference built upon last year’s success. As part of the planning committee, I came into this weekend excited for an energetic, life-altering experience with youth and adults like. I was not disappointed.

High School sophomores, juniors and seniors and college freshman from the Pacific Northwest converged in the heart of the North Cascades to reminisce, learn, and explore the beauty of this fall landscape. Most of the students had participated in North Cascades Wild, Cascade Climate Challenge, Student Conservation Association, Youth Conservation Corps, Mountain School, and other conservation-based programs.

The event was a success due to the hard work of our staff and partners. The North Cascades Institute, National Park Service, US Forest Service staff, Western Washington University graduate students and other partner organization representatives dedicated their time as small group leaders and mentors, lodge chaperones, Masters of Ceremony, breakout session leaders, and logistics coordinators.

» Continue reading Recounting the 2nd Annual Youth Leadership Conference

Story and photos by Zach Montes

It is July 26^th and 55 degrees at the Ross Lake trailhead. The Cascade Climate Challenge participants, about to embark on a 12-day backcountry trip, will literally be challenging the climate. Fortunately, they look battle ready, wielding 3-foot loppers, and bow saws, their battered cooking pots strapped to bulging backpacks.

Under Gerry Cook’s lead, a group of park employees and learning center staff have volunteered to help these students reach their first camp site at Lightening Creek, more than 25 miles up Ross Lake. Together, we are in for a 3.5-hour boat ride with plenty of things to see and talk about along the way. At the Ross Lake trailhead, a handsome 8-point buck in full velvet saunters through the trees not 10 feet away. He grazes comfortably in the distance while the students make last minute pack adjustments.

» Continue reading A Trip on the Mule with Ranger Gerry Cook

Sixteen high school students hailing from Oregon and Washington arrived in the North Cascades on June 26th to begin an unforgettable adventure. These young leaders came to participate in the third year of Cascades Climate Challenge, one of North Cascades Institute’s youth programs. The youth started off by splitting into two groups to go on 12-day backpacking and canoeing trips on and around Ross Lake. For many, this was the longest time away from home, the first time paddling a canoe, and the most physically challenging experience they have had.

CCC2 stands on a bridge over rushing Lightning Creek

CCC1 canoers “raft up” in the mouth of Devil’s Creek

Students learned many new skills each day, in addition to lessons about climate change, invasive species, presenting and naturalizing. Everyone took turns cooking meals, cleaning up following Leave No Trace guidelines, building fires, and leading the group. Spending so much time in North Cascades National Park (NCNP) provided a great opportunity for hands-on service work, and a chance for the students to give back to the park they were learning and living in. Mike Brondi, volunteer coordinator for NCNP, met up with both groups to teach them about invasive reed canary grass, which the students pulled in order to promote native grass growth. They also planted native seeds to restore the banks of Dry Creek and cleared the trail between Hozomeen and Willow Lakes.

Members of CCC1 manage to fit six people in a bear box

Students took turns cleaning up after each meal

Each group’s 12-day trip included waking up at 5am one morning to climb up Desolation Peak, gaining breathtaking views of snow and glacier-capped mountains, at the expense of one thousand vertical feet per mile. Youth who had been strangers on the first day supported each other like family, encouraging one another to the top of the mountain. This was just one of innumerable moments of awe and inspiration on the trips: listening to eerie loon calls at Hozomeen Lake, paddling silently to the mouth of Devil’s Creek, or holding 20,000 year old pieces of wood flattened by glaciers, preserved in clay next to the Skagit River.

Canoes float below Desolation Peak, about to paddle their hikers to the Desolation trailhead

CCC2 poses in triumph, with Jack Mountain and Ross Lake as a backdrop

After the two smaller groups completed their “backcountry” trips, they reunited at the Learning Center for the luxuries of “front country” camping, and ten days of focusing more intently on the science of climate change and its impacts on the North Cascades. Students met with specialists like NCNP geologist, Jon Riedel, to learn how climate change is affecting the park’s glaciers, Gina DiCiccio, NCNP climate change intern, and Katie Fleming from the Cool School Challenge. Their lessons allowed students to explore a variety of ecosystems, including Baker Lake, Baker River, Thunder Knob, Rainy Lake and Diablo Dam powerhouse.

By the end of the trip, students were experts at tent construction

Students hiked the still-snowy trail to breathtaking Rainy Lake for lessons about glacial landforms

After some rainy nights camping at Newhalem campground, resulting in the overnight formation of tent lakes, the group returned to the Learning Center for their culminating project: putting together an hour-long presentation and lessons on their experience, what they learned and how the students will be applying their new knowledge when they return home. The students shared this with the Kinship Conservation Fellows, a group of eighteen international leaders who are actively working to integrate a practice of conservation and environmental awareness into business. The students in turn got to learn about some of the kinds of jobs they could pursue to help preserve the environment they are so passionate about.

A student snorkels in Ross Lake, looking for small red-sided shiner fish

Twenty-two days after these sixteen students first came to the Cascades, they had to find a way to say goodbye to both a place and a community that had become a home and a family. As instructors, we hope that the students left with as much inspiration and confidence as they gave us. Getting to teach, lead, and mentor such exceptional young adults is a privilege. Spending three full weeks 24/7 watching these youth grow individually and as a group is a process that, while exhausting, is simultaneously one of the most rewarding experiences an educator can have. These bright-eyed and enthusiastic youth remind me of myself at a younger age, which gives me hope that they will continue becoming leaders that will not settle for “business as usual” and a planet that cannot support the systems and amazing organisms we cherish. NCNP maintenance foreman Gerry Cook shared the following words with the members of Cascades Climate Challenge, which they have all taken to heart: “I cannot change the world, but I can change the world around me. And if we change the world around us, we will change the world.”

After a week of food and gear packing, the Summer Youth team ventured to Ross Lake for the annual recon trip. The purpose of the trip was to transport food and gear to Ross Lake Resort for the summer, familiarize ourselves with the lakeside campgrounds, learn program curriculum and test out the camping gear and food menu. This year the recon was a bit different as leaders from both Cascades Climate Challenge and North Cascades Wild joined forces on the lake, allowing us all to better get to know each other and the program content we’ll each will be involved with.

The crew began the trip by loading the canoes with bucketfuls of food and personal gear at the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center, where we eventually departed. The group paddled through the gorge in Diablo Lake toward Ross Dam. At the first destination we pulled canoes from the water and carried gear and buckets to meet our shuttle who would portage our gear to Ross Lake Resort. Once at the resort we stored our food for the summer, met with resort staff and prepared for an afternoon of paddling to McMillan Camp, our first destination of the trip.

Kate and Ian fill canoes with bucketfuls of food that will be stored at Ross Lake Resort.

» Continue reading Summer Youth Recon 2011

Mountain School is not yet over but the summer youth program team is already pulling big shifts and long hours in preparation for the arrival of the Cascade Climate Challenge and North Cascades Wild students. Countless calories must be packed and cached, payloads of gear have to be inventoried, cleaned and organized and mounds of student information needs to be reviewed and entered into spreadsheets. We assembled a few photos shot during the week to give folks a behind-the-scenes look into summer youth programs.

Ian, Amy and Kevin review equipment options.

(12 x 10 x 8) + (2 x 20 x 4) = ??? Tasha evaluates the food-packing progress.

Ian and Scott inventory and grade the condition of the equipment.

Amy outlines the structures and goals of the two summer youth programs in a presentation to new staff.

Still smiling, Kate prepares a bucket to be cached at the Ross Lake Resort.

Ian lays out the objectives of an instructor skills session.

One of the many spreadsheets and organizational charts we create and use.

102, 103, 104… Program T-shirts are inventoried.

Still packing food. Clint orders Codi to quit dancing and get back to work. Fortunately, she is ignoring him.

It’s that time of the year when North Cascades Institute is gearing up for another year of exciting programs for youth and we’re actively recruiting students to be a part of North Cascades Wild, Cascades Climate Challenge and Mountain School in 2011. Please help us spread the word to parents and teachers about these amazing opportunities.

North Cascades Wild

Recruitment is underway for North Cascades Wild, our successful youth development and wilderness conservation program in partnership with North Cascades National Park and Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. While the due date for Skagit and Whatcom students has passed, we’re currently recruiting 9th -11th grade students from Seattle, Tukwila and Lake Forest Park — applications are due April 15th.

North Cascades Wild is a tuition-free program for 9th-11th graders from Seattle, Lake Forest Park, and Skagit and Whatcom Counties. Established in 2006, the program features:

* 12-day summer canoe camping, hiking and conservation service trips in North Cascades National Park and Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
* Spring and fall Saturday outdoor/service field trips (for Skagit and Whatcom County students)
* a fall Reunion, and
* the opportunity to attend a 3-day Youth Leadership Conference in November at the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center

Students earn 30 community service hours after completion of post-program requirements while receiving training in leadership development, conservation service, community building and natural and cultural history. Students are eligible for job and internship opportunities on public lands after their participation in the program and can also build their Senior Culminating Project into their experience. The program is intended to be a gateway program for students, to turn them on to stewardship, leadership and community building and while developing their sense of place through the study of natural and cultural history.

For an application, please contact Amy Brown, North Cascades Wild Program Coordinator, at 360-854-2582 or
abrown@ncascades.org.

Cascades Climate Challenge

Know a high school student interested in the environment and science? Tell them about Cascades Climate Challenge!

Cascades Climate Challenge is a tuition-free program dedicated to turning today’s youth into climate change leaders for communities in the Pacific Northwest. North Cascades Institute conducts the program in partnership with North Cascades National Park and the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

Students meet in North Cascades National Park and spends three weeks in the North Cascades during either the July or August session, where they study climate change science in the field and develop their presentation skills. Hiking to glaciers, interviewing scientists and resource mangers, and participating in service projects with park personnel all allow the students to connect with the park and see the effects of climate change up close. In the final part of their summer experience, students create and teach lessons to an outside audience in preparation for their fall service projects.

Each year, 40 high school students from Oregon and Washington are selected on the basis of teacher recommendations, service and leadership experience, an essay application and a personal interview. Students from a wide range of communities and backgrounds are encouraged to apply. Applications, more information, photos and a cool video are all online at www.ncascades.org/programs/youth/climate_challenge/. You can also keep up with the latest news by “Liking” Cascades Climate Challenge on Facebook. For more details or questions, contact us at nci@ncascades.org.

Mountain School

Learn in the mountains this year! Mountain School, our award-winning environmental education program for elementary, middle and high school students and teachers based at the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center, has a few slots available in April and May. With blooming flowers and extended daylight hours, spring is a wonderful time to visit the Environmental Learning Center.

Looking ahead, we also have opportunities for classrooms in the fall.

For questions or to register, contact Aneka Singlaub, Youth Outreach Coordinator, at 360-854-2595 or aneka_singlaub@ncascades.org . For more information on the program, including a fun video, visit www.ncascades.org/school.

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Last but not least, check out our new Youth Leadership Conference video, featuring alumni from the aforementioned programs!

Last weekend, North Cascades Institute partnered with North Cascades National Park and Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest to offer the North Cascades Youth Leadership Conference, “A Confluence of Young Leaders” Nov. 12-14 at  the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center. The conference included students from nearby communities such as Seattle, Mount Vernon and Concrete, Wash., as well as representatives from as far away as Wenatchee, Wash., and Pendleton and Astoria, Oreg. All of these students have participated in a program on public lands such as Cascades Climate Challenge, North Cascades Wild, International District Housing Alliance WILD, or Youth Conservation Corps. Many of the student leaders are first generation Americans, born in places like Bhutan, Cameroon, Eritrea, Ethiopia, India, Mexico, Nepal, the Philippines and Somalia. All of them were motivated by the power of the North Cascades environment and came to this conference to further develop their leadership skills so that they can help protect this special place. I went hoping to inspire the 48 high school students to become even stronger environmental leaders, and I left inspired by their hope and leadership.

» Continue reading A Confluence of Young Leaders

By Elisabeth Keating, Guest Blogger

On a scorching Sunday morning in August, the Climate Challenge students headed a few miles north from our riverside campground on Highway 20. Our destination: Diablo Powerhouse—a key link in the massive Skagit hydroelectricity project which provides 30-40 % of Seattle’s power supply. Our classroom for the day, the Diablo Powerhouse, has a rich and storied place in the history of Seattle. It opened in the 1930s, was built before Hoover Dam and before Grand Coulee Dam, and had the biggest hydro generators in the world when they were installed.

Today’s goal: To learn about hydro energy–a major renewable energy resource of the Pacific Northwest.

“The Cascades Climate Challenge program isn’t just about climate science and the effects of climate change on the Pacific Northwest,” lead Climate Challenge instructor Aneka explains. “It’s also about finding solutions, and alternative energy is a concept we like to explore in depth. Another primary focus of the program is leading the students to think for themselves. Through the exploration of the Diablo Powerhouse, we’re encouraging the students to think critically about the effects of climate change and solutions as they related to sustainable communities in the Pacific Northwest. Making the connection between glacial retreat and healthy salmon populations can be simple but adding the human component of energy dependence and alternatives to coal power deepen the conversation.”

» Continue reading Climate Challenge students explore hydropower at the Diablo Powerhouse

By Elisabeth Keating, guest blogger

How can you help kids retain their learning when you’re teaching something as complex as climate change?

These tips from park rangers Will George of Lewis & Clark National Park and Autumn Carlsen of North Cascades National Park can help convey climate change to children in a compelling and powerful way.

• Focus on telling stories, not bombarding kids with boring abstract statistics.
• Involve the kids with interactive exercises like movement, song, and quizzes. You might ask kindergarteners to paint recycling bins, for example.
• Use puppets and other props to teach abstract topics.
• Keep it local. Talk about how climate change will impact the world kids know. For example, kids in the Pacific Northwest understand salmon and watershed topics. Kids who live in mountains might relate better to stories about pika and bear habitat shrinking. City kids might relate to hotter summers and needing to use more air conditioning.
• Have fun and show how we all benefit from taking care of the planet. Taking care of the planet doesn’t have to be depressing or boring. Think, “Less stuff equals more fun!”
• Set measurable, clear goals and objects for what students will learn.
• Check in frequently with your audience to assess how you’re doing. For example, as we ate lunch, the rangers asked the students to close their eyes and answer a question with a thumbs up, thumbs down, or middle thumb sign: “Think about what we did this morning. How helpful was the map we looked at the morning in learning about the North Cascades”? There’s a universal display of enthusiastic upturned thumbs. “That’s a great, very quick assessment technique to use with little kids when you’re teaching” they explain. “Be sure to check in regularly and make sure they’re interested and staying with you.”

One more tip from a recent New York Times article, Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits, reveals new cognitive research that seems to prove that the brain retains knowledge best when the study environment is varied.

“The brain makes subtle associations between what it is studying and the background sensations it has at the time, the authors say, regardless of whether those perceptions are conscious. … Forcing the brain to make multiple associations with the same material may, in effect, give that information more neural scaffolding.

“What we think is happening here is that, when the outside context is varied, the information is enriched, and this slows down forgetting,” said Dr. Bjork, the senior author of the two-room experiment.”

If so, the Cascades Climate Challenge students should have no problem retaining the knowledge they’ve gained in the North Cascades. In the 2 days I spent with the students, our classrooms varied from the map diorama in the North Cascades Visitors Center to an auditorium where we watched an excerpt from a documentary, to an outside deck with a view of the Pickett Range, to a rocky riverbank to the inside of a tree to a cedar platform overlooking a 1400-year old ceremonial cave, to a campfire, to a humming Skagit River powerhouse. And that was one of the tamer weekends!

Elisabeth will be posting more stories from her time spent with the Cascades Climate Challenge over the coming days — stay tuned, and a big thanks to her for visiting us and writing about it in turn!

Top photo of Autumn by Rick Allen; bottom photo of Chip Jenkins and the Climate Challenge students by Benj Drummond.