Writing persuasively in support of educational nonprofits is what I have enjoyed most. I hope I’ve helped people see that libraries and museums are critical providers of learning outside the traditional classroom.
Recently, I’ve been voluntary “write hand” for some teachers seeking grant funding for wilderness camping trips so their students get excited about science and math by working alongside professionals in the natural environment.
Here’s part of our case statement:
Hohokam Middle School is a public school on the extreme southwestern edge of metropolitan Tucson. Our area has been characteristically semi-rural, including a village on the Pascua Yaqui Indian Reservation, several isolated subdivisions, and numerous small ranches. Recently, with vacant land subject to rapid development, urban life is reflected in the formation of gangs in the schools, and in the casino culture that now drives the economy of the Yaqui tribe and supports many of our families.
Our students are caught between a romantic history of cowboys and Indians and an unpredictable future colored by fantasy via TV. With no money for field trips, our school has a difficult time demonstrating realistic career choices to the students. However, for five years we have managed to scrape together the funds to take 50-60 kids (grades 6-8) on a wilderness camping trip that puts them in touch with the natural world, their cultural heritage, and with careers in conservation.
Professionals who share in the camp teaching bring sophisticated tools of science and math and also a deep love of the land to the process. They convey an authentic sense of place that comes from both the mind and heart.
The students become engaged with the land when they learn from elders how it has defined and limited human endeavor over generations; they become engaged with science when they learn from adults who use it daily the effects human endeavor, including scientific tools and technology, have had on the land.
Project Summary
Youth in Wilderness is about conserving and building on limited resources, in nature, in the community, and in individual lives. Our students learn about their ancestors’ experience of nature through folklore; they bond with each other by collaborating in good work; the learn science and math out of necessity; and they begin to think about their future work as they assist role models who care about the environment but also care about increasing knowledge to sustain it. Youth in Wilderness supports and expands the school’s science and math curriculum but also supports self discovery.
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