Thank You, Teachers!
In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, we want to celebrate and appreciate our wonderful teachers and educators. We are humbled by your dedication to teaching and commitment to your students’ success. Your hard work makes it possible for students to experience a NatureBridge program. For that we are incredibly grateful! We’d like to highlight a few teachers who have gone above and beyond to make a NatureBridge program possible for their students.
Jamie Garcia, Teacher at Alliance Judy Ivie Burton Technology Academy High School in Los Angeles, CA
Jamie had planned a spring 2019 program at our Santa Monica Mountains campus but the Woolsey Fire in November changed all of that. NatureBridge’s program sites were severely damaged by the fire forcing the difficult decision to cancel programming. It seemed like the end of Alliance’s trip, but Jamie was determined to provide her deserving students with a NatureBride experience and she did. Alliance students were able to transfer their program to Yosemite and experience Yosemite and snow for the first time!
Amber Hespeler, Teacher at Anna Kirchgater Elementary in Sacramento, CA
Amber is very student focused and fully supportive of our program. She worked SO HARD to appropriately challenge her students and make them feel safe and comfortable in a new environment. She spent a lot of time before the trip preparing her students and setting them up for success. There is a lot of mindfulness and intentionality during the planning process and while they are here. Her energy and enthusiasm are infectious!
Indi Ekanayake, Dean of Instruction at Rainier Prep in Seattle, WA
Indi is a former science teacher and now Dean of Instruction at Rainier Prep, a new charter school in Seattle. His role involves supervising teachers, supporting student success and developing partnerships with organizations like NatureBridge that provide access to resources that build his students' confidence as learners, scientists and leaders in their community. Indi puts his students first and is dedicated to finding and providing meaningful experiences for them. This school year, Indi organized Rainier Prep's first trip to NatureBridge in Olympic National Park for 69 8th graders and nine staff! Indi hosted parent and guardian information nights to encourage student participation and championed the trip from day one. Indi was instrumental in creating a partnership with NatureBridge that will have a lasting impact on his students.
Stories
In Memory of Ty Cobb: A Visionary Leader of Resilience and Impact
Ty Cobb, former CEO of Yosemite National Institutes (now NatureBridge), passed away on Saturday, December 7, 2024 in Reno at the age of 84. Known for his visionary leadership, resilience, and ability to inspire collaboration, Ty guided YNI through some of its most difficult moments while building a foundation for its future growth and success.
WildLink November 2024: Woodlake High School
This November, Woodlake High School students and chaperones arrived in Yosemite for their first year as a WildLink school, and we are so excited to have them on the team! That means that the brave students who signed up for this expedition had virtually no idea what to expect before signing up for the trip, because none of their peers had experienced it before them! The week, although quite frigid, was full of lovely views, learning about Wilderness, spending lots of time by the river, and enjoying the beauty of Yosemite Valley and Wilderness. Their educators Sarah and Amelia were excited to help this group feel a sense of belonging in this place. They were also lucky enough to be joined by Ranger Lissie on their first day in the Wilderness!
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.