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 for schools 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 a staff member, help 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:

We will be hosting an optional volunteer training on Tuesday, September 29th from 1:00 – 2:30pm. Volunteer training is OPTIONAL. However, if you would like a chance to go through the activities that you will be helping the students with ahead of time this is a great time to get some hands-on experience. We will also have facilitator guides available ahead of time and have time dedicated at the beginning of the field trip day to run through the schedule and answer questions.

October 2nd – Snow Creek, Discovery Bay: Blue Heron 7th

October 7th – Snow Creek: Sequim 7th
October 8th – Snow Creek: Sequim 7th

October 16th – Snow Creek: Chimacum 7th & 8th

Please sign up HERE.    

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

Image courtesy of Charles Espey.