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
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.