Nevada Natural Resource Education Council (NNREC) Teens Work for Environment
by Sue Jacox
(Spring/Summer 2000)

Reno teens prepare and teach hands-on ecology activities to younger students on day and overnight field studies and at our local Earth Day celebration. They build trails, plant trees, and recently helped prepare a Tahoe camp for the arrival of children in the summer. Nearly fifty students packed a Reno High environmental science lab during their lunch hour to participate in the Truckee Meadows "One Region. One Vision." long-range planning for a sustainable community protecting our local treasures. Hug High students judge Science Fairs for elementary schools and teach fourth graders about the Great Basin on overnights at Fort Churchill assisted by Nevada National Guard volunteers. Opportunity School students helped build a nature trail in Verdi and engage children in learning activities both there and at the Oxbow Nature Study Area. Students, teachers, and AmeriCorps volunteers are working to relate ecology activities to state curriculum standards and assemble materials for outdoor activities for grades K-6.

On "Adopt-a Park Day" high school students from Reno will volunteer at Sand Harbor, Lake Tahoe with visiting teens from Washington, but their focus is far more encompassing than a one-day park project. They recognize that we must start with the children to sustain our communities and our natural heritage. Most of their work has the long-range goal of helping children connect with, appreciate, and take responsible action in our unique Sierra and Great Basin ecosystems. For the past few years they have been training and working to build an ongoing program of ecology camps that encourage children to take their knowledge and appreciation of our area back to their communities in the form of action projects, service-learning, and responsible decisions.

The high school students take their role as mentors to the younger students seriously. They make a big commitment of time throughout the school year to learn and practice activities. Hug High School teacher Leigh Rasmussen who supervises high school mentor training says "Not only do the younger kids benefit, but the older ones learn responsibility and leadership along with environmental lessons. Several have decided that they want to be teachers, and all of them said they have a better understanding of the environment." Elementary teachers appreciate the energy and assistance of the high school mentors. After years of pilot programs involving the high school mentors in overnight field studies for individual classes, Great Basin Outdoor School has booked several consecutive weeks at Clear Creek Youth Camp next fall for more sustained programming. To multiply the number of children served, contracting with an additional children's camp is projected for the following season. GBOS will add and train more adult naturalists and staff to help deliver the program, but of course the high school mentors will continue to be key participants. Reno High sophomore Danielle Lemke is earning community service hours and has worked for months helping select outdoor school activities supporting specific curriculum standards and is localizing some activities from national programs to the Carson River and our high desert. Specific standards in language arts, math, and science are addressed. Hug student Dan Growcock says of the high school mentors helping teach these lessons, "It develops important skills we use in everyday life."

Skills for life and careers--communication, teamwork, and problem-solving--are a part of outdoor school and were highlighted at a recent high school mentor training at Lake Tahoe at Camp Galilee. Discussions and fun cooperative challenges followed presentations on natural resource careers, personal skills sought by employers, and the chance to build those skills by volunteering in the community.

These Reno teens go far beyond participating in an individual program or a single event. They are building a system from the ground up to involve children in consciousness-raising, curriculum-related education for lasting enrichment of their lives and communities. Great Basin Outdoor School is a Nevada non-profit which has received national grants and support from Microsoft Licensing and Sierra Pacific Power Company. GBOS needs continuing community support from businesses and organizations to share the program with more children, particularly lower-income children unable to pay much toward the actual cost of their meals and lodging at ecology camp. As a GBOS board member and Nevada Service-Learning Task Force member, Reno High teacher Sue Jacox emphasizes the importance of community collaboration. "School districts, natural resource agencies, local business, conservation and service organizations are all needed to build a sustainable, affordable, ongoing program." High school senior Erich Fleck, a three-year veteran mentor says "Where else is it better to try and educate Nevadans about their environment and its worth than in our schools and with our youth?"

Kids Teach Kids About Nevada and The Great Basin Outdoor School
by Sue Jacox
(Summer 1999)

Kids teach kids about Nevada at Fort Churchill State Historic Park while learning cooperation, respect and responsibility. With help from Nevada Air National Guard volunteers and high school mentors, fourth graders from several northern Nevada elementary schools re-enact life in the 1800's at the old fort while learning about desert ecology and more.

Kids live the Nevada history experience as they re-create roles of army squads learning to make bricks from desert sand, and marching through the remains of the old fort. Kids learn about people, plants and animals native to Nevada and after practicing mountain man skills, they ignite their own campfire by striking flint on steel. A night walk with stories, astronomy and nocturnal animal activities ends the day.

The 152nd Air Lift Wing volunteers have provided tents, staff, equipment transportation, and program support for the past nine years. Students from Reno High School and Hug High School have assisted for the past three years, adding a study of the Carson River, desert ecology, and cooperative team-building activities to the program.

Many more childeren will benefit from this kind of program each year when Nevada establishes outdoor field schools similar to those serving children in most western states. The Great Basin Outdoor School, Nevada's first and only outdoor school, is currently seeking property for a permanent site which will accommodate 90 children plus staff and volunteers.

The Great Basin Outdoor School (GBOS), a nonprofit organization, welcomes partnerships with school districts, businesses, agencies and organizations who share the same vision. Past support for training, materials and pilot programs has come from dozens of local and national sources such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Nevada State Education Association , Phillips Environmental Partnerships, Wells Fargo, Patagonia, and Project Learning Tree. Teachers and volunteers from Sierra Pacific Power Company and Microsoft Licensing, Inc. have initiated organizational steps, with Microsoft being the biggest financial supporter to date, giving a generous financial commitment over a two-year period.

Opportunity School students and Student Conservation Corps will start service learning projects and be exposed to career fields as they develop the outdoor school site once property is secured. Initial grants will fund site, program and staff development while user fees will cover most ongoing operation of the program. Continuing support will be sough to underwrite reduced fees for low-income children.

Outdoor school activities are selected to support existing curriculum and reflect interdisciplinary alignment to content standards. A recent 40-school study entitled "Closing the Achievement Gap" demonstrated positive gains on students standardized tests, attendance, and attitudes as well as renewed enthusiasm and commitment among teachers who used the environment as an integrated context for learning.

For more information, and to share your support for the Great Basin Outdoor School contact Steve Moyer at (775) 834-4370.