Students in the Kittitas Environmental Education Network’s Earth Explorers program paint landscapes during a day session at Helen McCabe State Park.
SAFE SETTING Outdoor education proved good fit for pandemic
By KARL HOLAPPA staff writer With the pandemic raising concerns about the safety of congregate settings and group activities, one local organization has fallen back on what they know best: getting outdoors. The Kittitas Environmental Education Network scrambled last spring to make modifications to its existing plans and develop new programs to engage the children of Kittitas County by getting them out of their homes, off their
computer screens and engaged in nature, but the process of change did not always come easily, and the nonprofit has struggled throughout the year while operating at a deficit. NEW PLANS ON THE FLY When the pandemic made its way to Kittitas County, KEEN Director Jill Scheffer said the organization quickly began to make adjustments to its existing programs, while still remaining hopeful that the issue would be tackled quickly. “When we went into the spring, I think everybody was hopeful that
it would be short and we would be over it quickly,” she said. “I remember sending emails saying hopefully we’ll be back to normal by April. Now, I look back and think about how silly it was to think that.” The organization was forced to cancel multiple events, including their annual Windfall Cider Fest and had to pivot their annual Get Intimate with the Shrub Steppe event to a virtual format. Scheffer said the loss of the annual events drastically affected the group’s income for the year, but they
continued to forge ahead. “It was probably about May when we realized we needed to substantially modify our summer camp program and our Science in the Park program, which is a free environmental education program held in the city parks around town,” she said. KEEN developed a COVID policy in response to the pandemic, relying heavily on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health authorities to create guidelines that kept staff continued on page 9 7
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