It is that season again and we are gearing up to get our middle school students out in the field to start off their restoration design project. We have several field trips coming up in Clallam and Jefferson Counties this fall and are in need of volunteers to help guide students of their first field trip of the Real Learning Real Work program. This field trip they will be performing site assessments to identify habitat quality concerns for salmon and collecting data on their restoration plots.

What to expect as an education volunteer:

There are several roles for you to help with! Please communicate with me if you are not comfortable in one of the roles.

• Setting-up & cleaning up: this involves transporting equipment to different areas of the site such as tape measure, bins of work gloves, tables, and rain gear.
• Activity Co-leader: With another volunteer educator or staff member, facilitate an activity for a group of 12-18 students. You will be provided with a facilitator guide that will serve as a quick-reference step-by-step to walk the students through the activity in their journal. Each group of students will have an adult chaperone or teacher from the school with them who will handle all behavior management.
• Floating Guide: float between groups of 4-6 students and help guide them to carry out their assigned tasks, answer questions, and help with task such as measuring, using a compass, identifying common plants, etc.
• Equipment/Gear: check out tools and equipment to students, help them find work gloves that fit, ensure they return tools/gloves in a clean(ish) and organized fashion.

I will send out an updated schedule and any facilitator guides you might need the week before the field trip. We will meet 30-45 minutes before the students arrive to answer questions, go over the schedule, and make sure you feel prepared.

Dates & Locations:

Sequim is our largest school we work with and they split their trip into 2 days, ½ the 7^th grade class on each day. This is our greatest need for volunteers – the more volunteers we have, the smaller we can keep student groups. Students get way more out of the experience if they are able to work with small groups.

October 8^th – Blue Heron at Salmon Creek Wildlife Area

October 10th – Chimacum 7^th & 8^th at Salmon Creek Wildlife Area (FULL)

October 16th – OCEAN 6th/7th/8th at Salmon Creek Wildlife Area (FULL)

October 17^th – Sequim 7^th at Dungeness River

October 18^th – Sequim 7^th at Dungeness River

Please sign up HERE.    

Feel free to reach out to lmccord@nosc.org if you have any questions!

Image courtesy of Charles Espey.