Jake's Story

“I showed up late and don’t have any friends yet.”

What a worrisome phrase for any camp staff member to hear but in this case it gives insight into why we all should value outdoor experiential learning.

At Sierra Nevada Journeys’ campus at Grizzly Creek Ranch located in the Sierra Nevada just outside of Portola, CA, we host youth groups, the majority of which are among the underserved.

The staff at Grizzly Creek Ranch had the privilege of spending time with children sponsored by the Reno Housing Authority for a week-long overnight outdoor learning program that started on Monday. During lunch the next day, I met Jake (not his real name). My custom is to wander among the children while dining and ask how they are enjoying the program, the food, whether they’re making friends and, in general, if there is anything we can do to improve their stay. That’s when Jake spoke up and said that he had only just arrived and hadn’t made any friends yet.

“Well, Jake…where have you been that you’re only here this afternoon?” I asked.

“I was in court,” said the 8-year-old, blonde-hair, blue-eyed boy.

I gulped but plowed ahead, “Jake, why were you in court?”

“It was adoption court and I now have parents, a brother, uncles and aunts and an entire family. It’s great!””

Everyone at his table was suddenly transfixed.

Blown away and with a huge lump in my throat I said, “How absolutely wonderful, Jake. I am so happy for you! What a terrific and huge morning for you but I have to ask, why are you here rather than spending time with your new family?”

“I had a chance to come to camp and just couldn’t miss it,” responded Jake.

Overwhelmed and with tears, all I could muster was a smile and some mumbled words.

Jake and children like him are why Sierra Nevada Journeys serves to bring outdoor, experiential science-based learning to the next generation of Americans. We give experiences that build critical thinking skills and awareness required for future environmental stewards. The Sierra Nevada Journey mission is important to Jake’s success as well as the future prosperity and strength of this nation.

Join us. Contribute to the Sierra Nevada Journeys’ mission and goals. You can make a profound difference in children such as Jake who is but one of 80,000 (and counting) whose lives are influenced by experiencing the outdoors and being exposed to nature’s inherent science principles.

- Mark Owen, Campus Executive Director

Gift Guide: Top 10 Toys for your Kid Scientist!

Support Sierra Nevada Journeys by shopping for these science gifts on AmazonSmile. The AmazonSmile Foundation donates 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases to your charitable organization of choice.

1.     Little Bits

Age: 8+

Price: $150+

A range of modular components that kids and designers can use to build fun projects with lights, motors, sounds, and other fun affects.

2.     Groovy Lab in a Box

Age: 8+

Price: $30

These subscription boxes arrive at your doorstep every month and are full of hands-on activities that help kids investigate, brainstorm, plan, build, test, and redesign their own creations.

3.     Zombie Plant Growing Kit

Age: All

Price: $20

This unique nature growing kit pairs that botany-lover kid of yours with the excitement of zombies. These plants are known as “don’t-touch-me” plants and will actually play dead, become wilted, when they are touched.

4.     Roominate Dollhouse Kits

Age: 6-12 Years

Price: $40+   

Roominate lets girls play architect to build their own dream house. They design it, build it, and then electrify it to make it come alive. The idea comes from two female engineers from Stanford that are on a mission to inspire the next wave of female technology innovators.

5.     Magna-Tiles

Age: 3-5 Years

Price: $199

With rave reviews, these tiles will keep the kids interested for hours by learning basic math and science skills through fun, creative play. The tiles snap together in endless ways for lots of hours creating fun inventions and designs.

6.     Bedtime Math: A Fun Excuse to Stay up Late

Age: 3-10 Years

Price: $8

Built on the idea that bedtime math can replace bedtime storytelling for kids, this book (also available on Kindle) makes it easy to get in some math practice daily.

7.     Snap Circuits Jr. Electronics Discovery Kit

Age: 8+ Years

Price: $20

With its easy-to-follow instructions, Snap Circuits offers 101 do-it-yourself projects that will give your child an entertaining, concrete education on how electronics work.

8.     Scientific Explorer Tasty Science Kit

Age: 8+

Price: $60

Perfect for your little scientist who loves the magic of cooking. Now they can discover answers to their common cooking questions and put their taste buds to the test!

9.     GoldieBox and the Spinning Machine

Age: 4+

Price: $30      

Designed for younger ages, this interactive book and construction guide gets girls building. The toy encourages spatial skill learning, basic engineering principles, and confidence in problem solving.

10. Klutz LEGO Chain Reactions Craft Kit

Age: 8+

Price: $15

Design and build 10 moving machines, comes with pieces and 80 page instructional book. Provides hours of independent fun and learning. 

The Budding Educator

THE BUDDING EDUCATOR

This blog post was written by Alisha Cahlan and originally appeared on her blog From Where I Sit: The Green Chair.

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It would be appropriate now to mention that we have a huge secret.

Yes, the From Where I Sit: The Green Chair team has been hiding something from you, dear readers, that we just can’t keep to ourselves anymore, and our next profiled guest found us out...

“I can see that this green chair used to be painted red,” Jennifer confidently states with a handheld microscope up to her eye.

Taking a closer look at our iconic green chair, she shows us her keen observation skills also cultivated within her students. As an Experiential Educator, she is seasoned at using out-of-the-box techniques to nurture curiosity and teach others to utilize their five senses when deducing meaning from their natural surroundings.

Our morning with Jennifer includes a prep session in the offices, which resemble a mix between an art and science classroom. Signs reading “Make Good Decisions”, crafting supplies, topographical maps, and various scientific models sit throughout the room.  

She stuffs a box with supplies for her three lessons throughout the day: a yellow softball, squishy basketball toy, blue play-pit ball, rock, 75 booklets, and several folders containing laminated infographics. The topic of the hour is the Earth and tectonic plates, and different from a traditional classroom lesson, students are able to utilize diverse educational tools. The “experiential” part of the Experiential Educator title relies heavily on utilizing different modes of learning.

Traditionally inside the classroom, we learn through auditory (hearing) learning, which involves a teacher orating to us in order to deposit information.  An Experiential Educator, however, will utilize not only auditory learning techniques, but kinesthetic (touch) and visual techniques. The children in Ms. V’s fourth grade class pass around various objects, hypothesizing what characteristics they contain that resemble the layers of Earth.

This is a first of a series of four visits Jennifer will make with the class, one including an outdoor adventure up a mountain to study changes to the Earth’s surface. For this school, which is located in a mostly low-income Hispanic neighborhood where breakfast and lunch are subsidized, many of the students clap and gasp with excitement as she mentions the trip.

A fun outdoor component is an important component of what Experiential Education programming can offer to students, as it will be the only opportunity most under-served student populations will have to positively engage with nature.

The program can act as a building block to further scientific study, often creating an emotional connection to the natural world as well. As such, the opportunities that people like Jennifer facilitate foster an interest in conservation endeavors in an engaged base of young people, who would otherwise have limited exposure to the importance of their role in sustaining a healthy natural environment.

Jennifer and her bright-eyed students make up a critical piece of the sustainability puzzle which gives our planet another bid in the fight for survival.

Employee Spotlight: Greggor Manning

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Greggor Manning

SOUS CHEF

When did you start cooking?

“I was about 10, with my grandma. She passed away but she was an old Italian who raised me and taught me how to cook. We spent a lot of time in her kitchen.”

What was your favorite thing to cook with her?

“Probably spaghetti. She made it with an old wine that she got from Italy and fresh tomatoes, and she would make her own pasta from scratch”.

“ I think some of my favorite things to cook here at SNJ are the vegetarian and vegan meals because I get to explore cooking new things.”

Do you have kids? Do you cook with them?

Yes! My daughter just started high school this year and is taking cooking classes. She wants to be a cook. My son loves helping me in the kitchen too. My littlest likes to sit on the counter and mix stuff in a bowl for us.

What do you like best about working at SNJ as opposed to a more formal restaurant?

I enjoy seeing the kids enjoying our food. I like the atmosphere; it’s really uplifting. I like seeing the kids having a good time. Food is really important because they go outside all day and then come in for meals and I like that they enjoy the food.

What is your favorite type of food to cook?

I love cooking Asian Fusion. I don’t get to do it much here but I do at home. I think some of my favorite things to cook here at SNJ are the vegetarian and vegan meals because I get to explore cooking new things.

Do you have a favorite celebrity chef?

If I had to pick one it would be Emeril Lagasse, I like how he’s really upbeat in the kitchen and his style and flair. He uses a lot of spices in his cooking.