Skip to main content

We're Leafin' on a Jet Plane!

We're Leafin' on a Jet Plane!

 As we reach the end of our school year here at Sierra Outdoor School, we would like to share some wonderful news! Each year the interns have the opportunity to create and work on a project to improve our campus. Read on to see all the wonderful things the interns have done before hoping on a jet plane!

Internship Recruitment Video

Kelsey "Goose" Roberts has worked alongside naturalist Angel Olavarria to film and interview our naturalist intern team to create a video highlighting the internship. The video is going to be used as a recruitment tool for future prospective interns. Visit our website to see this year's interns in action and to listen to them reflect on their experiences!


Geology of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range Mural 



Elise "Coyote" Adams added to teaching resources on campus, by designing and painting a mural. The mural depicts the creation of the Coastal and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges. 






Elise's mural will act as a visual aid for several of our classes including our cultural history classes, as well as our geology course.



Insect Night Class 

Amanda "Salamanda" Colley's intern project was to create a new night class for SOS.  She created a class all about insects; exploring their adaptations and importance. With four hands-on, student-led activities, students will get the awesome opportunity to delve into the world of arthropods and learn why they are so amazing! This is an hour long program that is meant to offer another option for night programs at Sierra Outdoor School, and to help students better understand insects. 

Reforestation Project

 Our immediate surroundings have a profound impact on our health and well being. Bark beetles and drought have reduced the number of living trees at Sierra Outdoor School and blocked off teaching areas. This has created new obstacles for students and staff to overcome.


Cassie "Cricket" Petrilla and Connor "Lizard" Reinecke have developed a plan to turn a section of campus into a productive ecosystem and useful teaching area. The plan utilizes permaculture principles and sustainable design to introduce swales, plantings, teaching areas and a new loop trail. After consultation with industry experts, Cassie and Connor hit the drawing board to create their plan. Now that the initial design is created, they need future SOS interns to put the plan into action! 

Pond Life Plant Identification Guide 
Lauren "Blackberry" Black set out to increase the tools available to our students while exploring our pond during our Pond Life class. She made a plant identification guide for our pond. She spent most of her time identifying all of the plants growing in and around the pond- with a lot of help from the naturalists and experts outside of our staff. 
The guide is a collection of the plants identified. It includes pictures of the plants, information about where they grow, what they look like, and when they bloom. It also explains how they fit into the ecosystem as food or habitat for wildlife, and ways that humans have/can use the plant, for medicinal or food purposes. 

BioBlitz Citizen Science Project

On May 6th the Sierra Outdoor School (SOS) brought together 40 volunteers in their first-ever "BioBlitz" to identify as many species of plants, animals, fungi, and all living things as they could find on our campus. Seven teams of volunteers spread out in search of anything that hopped, crawled, flew, or grew under the sun. The search began at dawn with Audubon Society members identifying birds. SOS naturalists, Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center biologists, and community members arrived at 8 AM ready to explore. After 4 hours of searching, between all seven teams they collected... drum roll please... 176 species! 

The event was organized by Naturalist Interns Robin "Sun Dog" VanHouten and Brenna "Turkey Tail" O'Halloran as a spring project for the school. Ages of the participants ranged from 6 years old to 60 years old. Every year from now going forward they hope that SOS will repeat this BioBlitz event to track how the biodiversity of their forest may change.

With each BioBlitz in the future Robin and Brenna hope to continue to inspire excitement and curiosity about the natural world in our volunteers. Look out for BioBlitz 2018 next Spring at the Sierra Outdoor School.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Start a School Environmental Club in 8 Easy Steps!

Hello students! Have you recently come to Sierra Outdoor School and want to continue the fun? Did you write an earth pledge in our Raptors and Conservation class and want to follow your dreams of helping the planet? Are you coming to Sierra Outdoor School in the future and are wondering how you can prepare for an awesome experience? Then creating an environmental club at your school may be the perfect idea for you! Making a club at your school can sound like a lot of work, but with our easy 8 step guide you'll have it up and running in no time! Step 1) Gather your friends! Get a group of friends together and talk about your goals and dreams for an environmental club.  Are there things you learned about protecting the planet, saving the animals, and reducing your earth footprint at Sierra Outdoor School that you want to continue doing at school?  Did you get inspired by the story of Olivia's Birds ( http://www.oliviabouler.net/ ...
12 comments
Read more

Meet Our Interns: Part 3

Sarah Barker (Mariposa) Where are you from/where do you call home? I was born and raised in Fresno, CA ; fun fact, I attended Sierra Outdoor School as a sixth grader! What did you study in college? I completed my Liberal Studies Bachelor of Arts at California State University, Chico.  What in your childhood pointed to this as your job? I really enjoy teaching Wilderness Skills. It's an awesome opportunity for students to learn new skills, like using a compass and building a survival shelter. It's very different from the curriculum I've taught in the "traditional" classroom. What is your favorite class to teach at Sierra Outdoor School? Sierra Outdoor School is a wonderful place to be! The opportunity to live in a beautiful forest, impact students from all over California, and experience a different style of teaching was something I couldn't pass up. I look forward to taking everything I learn here and bringing t...
6 comments
Read more

What's Going Down at SOS? ... Our Energy Consumption!

Did you know… the United States has less than 5% of the world’s population but consumes 19% of the world’s energy. On average, one American consumes as much energy as approximately 2 Japanese, 31 Indians, or 307 Tanzanians. Source: buff.ly/1hrtNtI   As we fight to slow climate change, our daily choices regarding energy use can make a big difference. In California, about 44% of the total energy consumed is by appliances, electronics, and lighting. Luckily, this is something we have a lot of control over! Here at SOS we reduce our energy consumption not only through our Pig Post program (see our December blog post), but also with a weekly energy competition! Wireless energy monitors located in each dorm record both real-time and cumulative energy use each day. Each monitor is surrounded by a poster explaining how the monitor works and why it is important. Read below! Students learn about the competition upon their arrival and begin participating the first momen...
8 comments
Read more