Yosemite

In retrospect, the process of this year’s Armstrong Scholars adventure was unexpected. Back in January, it didn’t occur to us that the record-breaking snowfall of winter had anything to do with Armstrong Scholars in the summer of 2023, nor did we think the personal challenges we were facing as individuals had anything to do with it, either.

Last Sunday, eleven fantabulous volunteers (aka Resupply Angels) joined me in hiking fresh fruits and vegetables, bagels and yogurt, chips and cookies, along with next week’s meals to the Armstrong Scholars. This year’s resupply team was one of a kind, in that TEN of us had been Armstrong Scholars or Armstrong Scholars leaders ourselves! Three of us flew across the country to be resupply angels! We represented 2002, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2022 and were all there to support the team and pay forward the goodness we’ve received from this program. It was such a delight to see Joie’s light burning so brightly on Sunday! 

As a child growing up in Northern California, Corinne Dedini would travel frequently with her family to their forest service cabin in Stanislaus National Forest. Along the way, young Corinne would see signs directing travelers to Yosemite National Park, and she remembers asking “Mom, what’s Yosemite?” And her mother would reply that it was “just like our little cabin” in Stanislaus.

One of the many joys we get to experience at NatureBridge is the frequent return of supporters and friends who have had a lasting impact on students as well as our staff. Such is the case with Maryhien Pham, an eighth grade teacher at Lawson Middle School in Northern California who has been bringing students to our Yosemite campus for 10 years.

In the fall of 2022, I brought a group of 54 eighth graders to NatureBridge for the first time since the Covid pandemic shut down the school district in March of 2020.

At NatureBridge, our goal is to inspire every student to become an environmental steward—and there are as many different expressions of that commitment as there are NatureBridge alumni. For some students, their NatureBridge experience even inspires their career trajectory and crystallizes their sense of identity as champions of our wildlife and wild spaces. One such student alum is Julie Byerly.

Originally hailing from North Carolina and New Orleans, Sarah Sugarman has lived in Yosemite for the past five years, working as an educator for NatureBridge and the National Park Service (NPS). Sarah currently works at the NatureBridge Yosemite campus as an Educator, Crane Flat Site Manager and the WildLink Program Coordinator. “I love teaching, playing outside, and creating art in many forms,” Sarah says. Working with both NatureBridge and NPS affords Sarah many opportunities to engage in all three of those passions!

NatureBridge recognizes and is grateful for the land upon which we are privileged to run our programs and the indigenous peoples who continue to care for and have stewarded these places for thousands of years.

Mary visited us as a student back in 1977 when NatureBridge was known as the Yosemite Institute. Nearly 20 years later, Mary completed the cycle when she returned as a teacher, bringing her first group of eighth graders to our Yosemite campus.