Chattermarks

Mountain School has ended for me, but this recent spring session changed my life as an educator. I have become more convinced that I am pursuing the right career and that my teaching techniques have had meaningful impacts in my students’ lives. It is embarrassing for me to speak so candidly and arrogantly, but the parent chaperones have told me I am doing good work. I know this is true because in two successive weeks I choked up at home while journaling. Though I write this article more than two months later, I still feel the emotions welling inside me as I recall specific moments that impacted me earlier in the season.

I blame one student who eloquently spoke about how he feels empowered to change the world. I fault another whose sheer smile in her own accomplishments makes me tear up every time I am reminded of her voice.

International School (grades six to twelve) sent seventh, eighth and ninth graders from Bellevue to spend a whole week with us at Mountain School. Co-teacher Codi Hamblin and I delivered our Carnivore Curriculum, which capitalizes on the scientific method and provides an opportunity for students to experience data collection near campus. We guided students to actively set up an experiment that analyzes possible carnivore habitat.

» Continue reading A Greater Impact, What Teaching has Taught Me

March 17 marked a day of recognition for the hard work and dedication of the graduate students of Cohort 9, and their completion of a Masters in Environmental Education from Western Washington University and a Certificate in Leadership and Non-profit Administration from North Cascades Institute.

Friends and family of the graduating class, Institute staff and graduate students of Cohort 10 filled the intimate dining hall venue in support of the achievement of the members of Cohort 9: Corey White, Brandi Stewart, Paul Wiemerslage, Mike Parelskin, Rebecca Ryan, Martine Mariott, Justin McWethy, Kelsi Franzen, Megan Magee and Erin Fowler.

The group had spent the last two years working, teaching and learning together at both the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center and Western Washington University. In June 2009, the 10 strangers came together in Bellingham where they spent the summer learning about and exploring North Cascades ecosystems in preparation for their year-long residency at the Learning Center in North Cascades National Park. While at the Learning Center, the cohort gained hands-on experience working as educators for Mountain School and various other Institute programs including Base Camp, North Cascades Wild and Cascades Climate Challenge. In the winter, the students delved into curriculum development and learned how to create and manage a non-profit organization.

Following the residency, the grads returned to Bellingham to spend the remaining two quarters at Western’s campus. The students applied their experiences from the Learning Center to educational theory and various research projects.

Top: Members of Cohort 9. Above: Graduate Coordinator Tanya Anderson shares stories of Cohort 9 with the graduates’ friends and family, who filled the Learning Center’s dining hall to celebrate the cohort’s accomplishments.

» Continue reading C9 Graduation: The Mark of New Beginnings

When you bring 40 environmental educators together to share stories, songs, ideas, and experiences, the outcome can be amazing. On January 15th, instructors from IslandWood, Wilderness Awareness School, and Olympic Park Institute joined North Cascades Institute graduate students from Cohort 10 to spend a weekend of sharing knowledge, food, hugs, skits, songs, and stories.

For me, this weekend was an opportunity for renewal: to be refreshed and inspired to press onward with my goal of saving the world in my own small way.

When trying to tackle the world’s enormous and complex environmental issues, it is easy to feel discouraged and lost, to feel small and alone. But the weekend of the Instructor Exchange offered solace; being surrounded with a group of caring environmental educators struggling with some of the same issues is comforting.

Instructors enjoy good conversation and a delicious pizza dinner.

» Continue reading Remembering the Small Things

The days of the hand-scrawled essay may be gone, but students still are telling stories to their peers, families and teachers about their summer experiences. We are pleased to be able to showcase two videos put together by members of the 2009 Parks Climate Challenge team. The first, by Laura Humes, is a testament to the power of her experience in the North Cascades. The second, by Sydney Jarol, was selected for honorable mention by KCTS in their My Parks! Digital Storytelling competition.

By now, the wind chill has reached the low 20s. A crisp, fall breeze pierces my cheeks and sinks deeply into my exposed fingertips. It is finally time to put on the winter gloves.

Only the 3rd of October, it is the earliest of the fall season I have felt the fleece lining I so often associate with the dead of winter. Those familiar with the climate and topography of the North Cascades would say that, on a north-facing slope at nearly 6,000 feet in the fall season, these conditions are to be expected. Expected or not, the stark contrast in temperature change never fails to shock me.

The trail has all but disappeared as we near the summit of Sourdough Mountain. Camouflaged, in part, by a fresh coat of snow, as well as by the grayish-white color of its outer paint layer, Sourdough Lookout – today’s destination – appears like that of any animal in survival mode, evolved to change its colors to match that of its wintry surroundings. We, on the other hand, are a mixture of bright orange and black, Adidas tennis shoes and mountaineering boots, baseball caps and old, woolen hats from the early ‘80s climbing era. With a jar of peanut butter, a few whole grain tortillas, and some apples and cheese, we were evolved to seek adventure, by any means possible, in any way possible.

» Continue reading Sharing the season on Sourdough

Over the second weekend in September, 12 photographers joined me (Benj Drummond) at the Learning Center for a weekend seminar on digital photography. We enjoyed clear sunny days and took advantage of the beautiful fall light from dawn until dusk (and then kept shooting). After returning from the field, we edited and tweaked our images in the computer lab. On Sunday we wrapped up the weekend with a group critique of the weekend’s work. Below are a selection of favorites, though it was a hard edit to make!

Above © Jason Ruvelson

© Russ Dalton

© Seaton Gras

© Ed Gastellum

© Emily Weisberg

© Shelley Langton

© David Green

© Louise Kornreich

© Beth Wisotzkey

© Don Fisher

© Seaton Gras

For the last year I’ve called the North Cascades home.  It was home because I was a graduate student with the North Cascades Institute and for one year I lived at the Environmental Learning Center, completely a professional residency.  Throughout the year I learned about environmental education, worked with amazing educator and naturalists, and studied nonprofit administration.

Living at the Environmental Learning Center, with Sourdough Mountain rising steeply to the north and Pyramid and Colonial Peaks looming large across Diablo Lake, I found my place.  I can’t describe the connection I now feel for the North Cascades, the urge I feel to wander the valleys and climb the peaks, the sense of wonder I feel when I discover new plants and critters; what I do know is that I’ve never felt more grounded.

» Continue reading A farewell to the North Cascades

Reflect on everything you have experienced in the last two years. Now create an hour-long presentation about it. Your friends, family, colleagues, mentors, and peers will be the audience.

This was the assignment that cohort seven of the Institute’s master of
education program recently completed. Over the last two years, they explored the North Cascades, taught students of all ages about the region’s natural and cultural history, learned to create and run their own nonprofit business, and analyzed the theories and practices of education.

For those of you who couldn’t attend, here’s a short synopsis, accompanied by photos of the distinguished speakers.

» Continue reading Sum up your last two years

It is easy in the rush of things to forget about this place. With assignments, time lines, deadlines, family and life this place, my place, slips away and I stop looking.  Perhaps I feel that it is all owed to me or, as with so many things, that which matters the most is usually the first to be taken for granted.

But then, I am reminded.  I stand on the dock and watch the sun sink slowly behind Pyramid Peak. I catch a fleeting glimpse of a small bat that has ventured out after a cold winter. I stand astonished before a small willow carrying tiny, white buds that are so close to bursting open. It is then that I remember, it is then that I stop and turn slowly, savoring it all. It is then that I ask myself, how did I forget? How did I stop looking, seeing, relishing the beauty and magic that surrounds me? The sunset, bat and willow remind me. This place is full of mystery and beauty and I must remember to always relish and savor these moments, this place, the powerful beauty of nature.

“Every morning I awake torn between a desire to save the world and an inclination to savor it. This makes it hard to plan the day. But if we forget to savor the world, what possible reason do we have for saving it? In a way, the savoring must come first.”
E.B. White

PEACE- “It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in you heart.” (unknown)

Surrender Box (Image: an excerpt from my journal)

February 2009 is coming to an end and the graduate students of Cohort 8 are officially in the second half of their residency at the Environmental Learning Center. With six months to go before heading off to Bellingham for the final push, we are moving full steam ahead in this experiential learning process.

» Continue reading Finding peace