Back to School with NatureBridge!
We are so excited to welcome students back to NatureBridge campuses for the 2022-23 school year! Over the past few weeks, educators at every campus have been hard at work with training, orientations, preparation work and so much more.
In Olympic National Park, new educators shadowed returning educators as they led 7th and 8th graders from the Portland-area on orienteering and water quality investigations. For the returning educators of the team, the word of the program was "joy" and for the new educators, it was "casual wonder." They also implemented new programs such as a fungi enrichment seminar and exploration, much to the excitement of the students who agreed that the most anticipated activity for the outing was “mushrooms!”
In Golden Gate, new and returning educators are focusing on how we are connected to all living things in the ocean, no matter how small. Students are using microscope labs to see oceanic plankton, talking about the marine food web and what we can do to protect the ocean creatures that help us survive. “I’m so excited to help students understand global climate change through lessons about the carbon cycle, sea level rise, ocean acidification and increased wildfires,” said one Golden Gate educator.
“I want to empower students to be the environmental stewards and be the change in their communities.”Golden Gate educator
Over in Yosemite, educators are looking forward to teaching students about watersheds and fire ecology in addition to giving them a quiet space to connect with nature. Said one of our Yosemite educators, “Now more than ever, it’s really important for students to connect with nature and step outside their comfort zone, which is what we provide here at NatureBridge.”
Stories
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.
2024 Olympic Student of the Year: Ames Black O'Neal
We are thrilled to announce our 2024 Olympic Student of the Year: eighth grader Ames Black O'Neal.
Ames participated in a NatureBridge program with his seventh grade class from Portland, OR at our Olympic campus in spring 2024. As a self-described "nature nut," Ames was surprised by how much he learned at NatureBridge and how meaningful he found the hands-on, immersive experience to be. As he later reflected, "Learning is so much more impactful when you are surrounded by the subject matter."
In Memoriam: Bill Anders, Visionary Leader and Co-Founder of Yosemite Institute
Earlier this year, we mourned the loss of William “Bill” Anders, a true environmental champion and visionary leader whose impact resonated deeply for NatureBridge and society at large.
As a member of the historic Apollo 8 mission in 1968, Bill captured the iconic “Earthrise” photo—a stunning image of our small, delicate planet rising over the moon’s horizon. Reflecting on this moment, he remarked, “We came all this way to explore the Moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth.”