Chattermarks

The month of April began with a week of Mountain School like no other I’ve experienced in the eight months I have lived, worked, and studied at North Cascades Institute. April showers, instead of bringing May flowers, brought the opportunity to co-teach with National Park Service Ranger, Carolyn Waters. A typical trail group generally consists of 8-12 elementary students (usually 5th grade) who spend three days covering a single curriculum. In place of an energetic group of eleven year olds, however, Ranger Carolyn and I eagerly greeted five eighth grade girls. In the course of one week, two curricula were examined, torrential downpours were taken in stride, Pojars (our ever-present field guides to the Pacific Northwest region) were eagerly riffled through, and hypotheses were formed and tested. Our week of field-based learning brought opportunities for research, hands-on discovery, and a lot of laughter. In between studying transects for signs of the American Marten, these International School students enjoyed yoga, chose to watercolor along the shores of Lake Diablo, and strengthened bonds of friendship with their peers.

» Continue reading April Adventures at Mountain School

On a cold and rainy March morning last weekend, North Cascades Wild 2012 students pulled into the Marblemount Wilderness Information Center with smiles. Piling out of North Cascades Institute vans piloted by staff Amy Brown and Tasha Lexin, 17 high school students from Whatcom and Skagit counties began their journeys with one of the Institute’s tuition-free Summer Youth Programs.

North Cascades Wild brings underserved youth from Washington and Oregon to the North Cascades National Park and Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest for 8 and 12-day summer wilderness expeditions. With a focus on developing leadership skills and learning about the natural and cultural history of the area, students spend time learning to canoe, camp, backpack, and complete service projects for the Park and Forest services.

» Continue reading North Cascades Wild Stewardship at the Marblemount Native Plant Nursery

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.

By Andrew Pringle, Skagit District Interpreter, North Cascades National Park Complex

The second annual Youth Leadership Conference, hosted by North Cascades Institute, North Cascades National Park Complex and Mount Baker-Snoqualamie National Forest at the Environmental Learning Center in North Cascades National Park took place November 11th-13th, 2011.

The event brought together more than 60 diverse high school and college students from across the region who had recently participated in stewardship programs on public lands in the North Cascades Ecosystem. Fourteen different organizations partnered to present the students with a range of new opportunities.

In addition to the three host organizations, they included Mount Rainier National Park, Olympic National Park, The Student Conservation Association, Western Washington University, Seattle Parks and Recreation, Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group, Northwest Youth Corps, The Oregon Zoo, Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Alderleaf Wilderness College and The Wilderness Awareness School.

These partners are developing the next generation of public land stewards and agency employees. By deliberately connecting existing programs and partnerships, they are creating a continuum of meaningful experiences, a pathway to stewardship. This is in support of National Park Service’s “A Call to Action”, which charts a new direction for the National Park Service as it enters its second century in 2016.

Ultimately, these partners hope to create a constituency of engaged citizens, no matter their profession. The Youth Leadership Conference is one stop along this pathway. Students can sign up for educational programs and learn about getting into college, seeking out internships and applying for jobs. The three-day event is fun and inspiring, and now you can enjoy the experience in this new video:

North Cascades Youth Leadership Conference 2011

Middle school students from Lopez Middle School sit excitedly on the wooden benches of the amphitheater for Mountain School orientation. Mittens and gloves fly into the air with eager answers when students are asked what they have seen driving in the school bus up-valley that morning – waterfalls, mountains, more waterfalls. Orientation continues, skits about respecting nature and each other ensue, and somewhere out of what was once a stunningly blue winter sky that morning, snow begins to fall. Cheers roar, and observations of fallen flakes on coat jackets begin. It is January, and Mountain School is in session.

January 9, 2012 marked the opening of a new Mountain School season – the first winter sessions ever at the Environmental Learning Center campus. Lopez Middle School and Tacoma’s Science and Math Institute joined staff and graduate students for four days of exploring winter ecology, looking for animals signs, tracking twigs, and playing in our mountain snow.

Students from Lopez had one thing on their minds when they drove across Diablo Dam: snow. Coming from the San Juan Islands where snow is rare, promises of snow covered peaks and sledding opportunities had students eager to be outside. Lopez students participated in the classic Ecosystems Explorations curriculum with a seasonal twist.

Lopez Middle School students explore trails at the Environmental Learning Center with graduate student Alex Patia. Photo by Jessica Newley.