2018 Southern California Student of the Year: Elijah Kirkwood
We are excited to announce our 2018 Southern California Student of the Year, 8th grade student Elijah Kirkwood! Elijah's all-around positive attitude is amplified in the outdoors and infectious to those around him. He participated in two NatureBridge trips in the past two years. Elijah will be honored at our annual Moving Mountains event in Los Angeles.
NatureBridge really impacted my life by giving me more experiences outside. Before, I had never been camping in my life.Elijah
Read the rest of Elijah's application essay to learn more about how NatureBridge impacted his life:
My first time going camping is when my school gave me an opportunity. Going to nature really changed my life because now I know I can rely on myself and show my family I am responsible enough to take care of myself.
Going hiking with my friends without anybody from my family is really impactful because people love to live in the city where they can rely on people. NatureBridge also gave me a chance to get closer to my friends and I had trust with them. I relied on them to survive the wilderness with me.
When you are at NatureBridge you don’t have anybody to rely on but yourself and the people who you are with.
One challenge that I faced was traveling to the top part of the a mountain to see the world more. I reached the top of the mountain and was able to breathe the air and I felt special. I felt peaceful.
This impacted me because my school gave me an opportunity to go camping out of the city. Going out of the city and going to see the world more was good and healthy for me, so I believe if people could go to NatureBridge it would be a good experience for anybody.
Stories
Fall Reflections from NatureBridge Yosemite
As an environmental science educator, I spend a lot of time teaching about nature, but this season I’ve been finding that as it turns out, nature has a lot to teach us, too. Sometimes I can let the trees, the meadow, and the lichen teach for me. They show us how to respect each other’s boundaries, how to celebrate differences, how to work together, and how to lean on each other’s strengths in order to exist in a new place. These lessons felt incredibly relevant to me heading into the first week of November, a notoriously busy time at NatureBridge Yosemite. I wanted to focus on messages of kindness and inclusivity with my students, I wanted them to feel a sense of belonging in this new space, and I also hoped that they would share those messages with others.
An Incredible 10th Anniversary of Evening on the Lake
On October 25, the Amazon Meeting Center in downtown Seattle buzzed with celebratory energy as over 300 NatureBridge guests and supporters gathered for the 10th anniversary of "Evening on the Lake," our signature Pacific Northwest fundraising event for our Olympic campus.
"Science became fun" at NatureBridge for Alum Laura Lomeli Russert
Laura Lomeli Russert is a NatureBridge alum who grew up in Groveland, CA and now calls Washington, D.C. home. Laura’s journey with NatureBridge began when she attended the Golden Gate campus as a young student with her class from Tenaya Elementary. Laura credits NatureBridge with shaping not only her love for nature but also her passion for education and science. "Science became fun,” she recalls. “You weren’t learning from a textbook anymore, and it became so much more real." Her hands-on, scientific experiences at NatureBridge laid the foundation for her eventual pursuit of a Ph.D. in psychology. “I feel like I owe a lot to NatureBridge."