The Picket Post #3: Summer 2013

GRADUATE ALUMNI NEWSLET TER

THE PICKET POST Summer 2013, Volume I: Edition III

G R A D U AT E M . E D .

PROGRAM

810 State Route 20, Sedro-Woolley, Washington 98284 • (206) 526-2567 • ncascades.org/study

A

s spring has drifted into summer, the past few months at the Environmental Learning Center have been filled with excitement and transition.

13 recently moved to the City of Subdued Excitement from various corners of the country: California, Indiana, Maine, New Mexico and Washington.

In March Cohort 11 graduated in style at the Environmental Learning Center, celebrating with nearly 100 family members and friends. Since then they have moved on to new outposts scattered throughout the United States including Senior Faculty at Teton Science School, Interpreter at Mesa Verde National Park, Youth and Family Outdoor Community Coordinator for the Appalachian Mountain Club in Boston, and Nature Science Director at the Yakima Area Arboretum, just to name a few.

As the graduate students continue to transition throughout each season, so does our graduate program.

I am incredibly excited and honored for the opportunity to work with Megan McGinty (Cohort 2) this summer as she co-teaches alongside John Miles. After teaching for over 40 years, John begins his final year at Western Washington University as he works toward his retirement next June. As the graduate program moves into this new transition this summer, I look forward to seeing how the program continues to take shape following the many years of knowledge and dedication put forth by the greater North Cascades Institute community.

Hey Alumni!

As Cohort 11 moved on, Cohort 12 finished up another successful Mountain School season this spring serving 1,500 students this past season. Following spring Mountain School, Cohort 12 grads embarked on their transition into their Summer Leadership Tracks and is currently spread throughout the wilds of the North Cascades. In the mean time, new members of Cohort

Fall Campaign for Youth North Cascades Institute is launching our first Fall Campaign for Youth this September. This fundraiser is centered on raising support and awareness for Mountain School and Youth Leadership Adventures.

It will formalize a scholarship program too, enabling us to directly connect a donor with the student or classroom who benefits from their gift.

For more information, contact Brad Tuininga, Resources Development Director, at (360) 854-2596 or brad_tuininga@ncascades.org.

I wish you all the best as you explore your own seasonal transitions—may they take you up Highway 20 to a place we have all called home.

Best,

Stephanie Bennett Graduate Program Coordinator near hidden lakes peak

INTRODUCING COHORT 13 Annabel Connelly

Tyler Chisholm

Utah

Indiana

University of Redlands Studied Environmental Humanities

Purdue University Studied Geology and Geophysics

April Sakowski

Katherine Renz

Tennessee

California

Brevard College Studied Wilderness Leadership, Experiential Education and Ecology

University of California, Santa Cruz Studied Environmental Studies

David Krzesni

Katie Komorowski

California

Nevada

New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology Studied Mathematics with minor in Earth Science

Oregon State University Studied Liberal Studies with concentration in Women’s Studies

Elissa Kobrin

Samantha Hale

Oregon

Massachusetts

University of Oregon Studied Planning, Public Policy and Management with minor in Non-profit Administration

University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth Studied Marine Biology

James Anderson

Sarah Stephens

Washington

Washington

Seattle Pacific University Studied History with minor in Music

Western Washington University Studied French

Kaci Darsow Washington Western Washington University Studied Outdoor Environmental Education and Interpretation

FALL 2013

TAKE A CLASS WITH NORTH CASCADES INSTITUTE SEPTEMBER

20-22 Late September Family Getaway

28 or 29 Mount Baker: The Story of Volcanoes

28 Street Smart Naturalist in Seattle OCTOBER

5 Avifauna Afloat: Birds of the Bay

4-6 Journaling in the North Cascades

26 Northwest Mushrooms DECEMEBER

21 Salmon and Eagles of the Skagit

Who? What? Where? Why? How? — Strengthening the Questioning Muscles

by Brandi Stewart

Set students up for success. Being incorrect or not knowing an answer can be frustrating for students. Asking multiple questions at once can be confusing. Asking a vague, broad or discussion question when looking for a specific answer can be discouraging as well. Try practicing a question with someone who would know the answer, like another instructor. If that instructor is not able to successfully respond, chances are that students will not either.

Brandi leads a group of young snowshoers through the forest in Mount Rainier National Park where many opportunities for questioning await.

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fter completing the Graduate M.ED Program and becoming an Education Specialist at Mount Rainier National Park, I encountered a challenging transition between two very different programs: from Mountain School with small trail groups in a forest life zone to two-hour snowshoeing field trips with full class sizes in the subalpine life zone. I struggled to develop and utilize engaging techniques in a dynamic environment. I often found myself relying heavily on questioning. In my mind, questioning served as a flexible method of engaging a large group of students in an area that was never the same twice. However, I wasn’t receiving the successful response that I anticipated. As a mentor for other instructors, I noticed my questioning weaknesses being modeled in others’ instruction. Through improving my own questioning techniques, I am able to better connect with our students and assist other instructors to do the same.

Some tactics I have experienced success with: Sing “I’m a little teapot.” Seriously—just not out loud.

After you ask a question, sing the song in your head before calling on a student. This gives time for all students to think critically instead of providing a quick guess as an answer.

Start your question with a question word. This may seem obvious. However, “whiplash” questions can confuse students. These questions start out impersonating a sentence but turn out to be a question. With questions like “Glaciers carve the mountain to form what?,” students are expecting to receive information—not be asked a question.

Provide multiple choices. If students don’t have the background knowledge, sometimes asking a question with a specific answer can be unsuccessful. Offer students options that enable them to use critical thinking skills to come to an answer. Your question could be accompanied with “I’m going to give you three choices. I’m going to tell you all of the choices first, and then I’ll say each one again and you can raise your hand if you think that is the right answer.”

Engage all students in the response. Eliciting responses from all students can be difficult—especially with a large group of students. This can lead to frustration among students who do not get an opportunity to answer. The “think-pair-share” activity spurs discussion among all students while helping engage students who do not like to speak in front of large groups. Multiple-choice questions, which can be answered using a motion or sound (“Yip like a fox if you think the snowshoe hare is an herbivore”), is useful in engaging a large group.

While we’re at it, a question for you alumni: What other ideas or advice do you have for improving the success of questioning? (It seems appropriate to end this article with a question!)

Brandi Stewart, Cohort 9, is an Education Specialist at Mount Rainier National Park. She loves teaching, “rangering” and living at the base of an ice-covered, active volcano but wishes the high-waist, drab olive “pickle suit” pants were a bit more comfortable.

Past Reflections on a Bright Future

By Robby Astrove, Cohort 3

W

ow, 10 years have passed already.

Even though time and geography have advanced and changed, there are a few things that really stuck from North Cascades Institute and Western Washington University’s Masters in Environmental Education program. Time and time again, these nuggets have provided answers and advisement for over a decade, while at the same time provided teachable moments and inspiration to keep doing and learning more. And I’ll admit, the Each-OneTeach-One activity I learned at Mountain School in 2003 still gets regular rotation in my programs.

The vision, philosophy and pedagogy of the grad program are so grand and relevant to the needs of our professional field that the combination of what’s possible afterward is infinite. North Cascades Institute planted that seed and provided a road map for how to create and sustain a practice that engages people in planetary healing and transformational change. That sounds pretty dreamy I know, but an important part of realizing that ambition, and perhaps challenging and less exciting, is finding the financial resources to do so. It took some time for these skills and lessons to finally materialize into practice. My career continues to expand as I explore more at the intersection of environmental education, philanthropy and urban agriculture.

As the fundraising chair and vice president for the Environmental Education Alliance of Georgia, I draw

back on our discussions, mock phone calls and foundation asks we performed in our non-profit class.

Saul Weisberg was right; most folks are uncomfortable talking about money—it’s personal, and taboo for some. We learned how important relationships are and how important transparency of impact is to the community. Our stories must be shared in order to spark giving and connection to mission. Now I get to put these skills to use for my pet project, Concrete Jungle, as we strive toward non-profit status and kick off our orchard and membership campaigns with our new fiscal agent. Leadership and non-profit administration skills that I learned from the Institute are in full swing.

Last year I participated on a USDA grant review panel and was flown to Washington, D.C. For the first time I wasn’t asking for funding but deciding where and who it goes to! This was exciting and a privilege I persued with great seriousness and professionalism as we decided the fate of $23 million to support beginning farmers and ranchers across America. This was very much a citizen-led process as USDA bureaucrats did not decide where the funding went but North Cascades Institute grad alumni alongside other passionate and talented individuals! I joined the panel because of a recommendation from another grad alumni (our network is great!), but really the combination of direct program experience and program leadership, nonprofit development and passion is what got me to the table. Reflecting back to 2003-2005, these are exactly the skills that were gained at North Cascades Institute.

The hands-on experience we received as graduate students is one of my most prized possessions I get to share with the world.

Keep in Touch!

In future issues of our alumni newsletter, we want to include updates on exciting things happening in your life! This could be a vacation you just went on, a new professional position, getting married, having a kid or talking about the great environmental education trip you just led! Photos are welcome too.

Please email Stephanie at Stephanie_Bennett@ncascades.org with any updates you’d like to share with our alumni community!

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A blog about Living, Learning and Teaching in the North Cascades