Learning to Fly

Look outside your window and you'll see the trees turning vibrant shades of rust. The days are getting shorter, and the weather colder, the air brisker. It's already the first of November, and the days are flying by. Cohort A just finished the second week of solo teaching with Emerald Heights Elementary, a local school in Silverdale that brings sixth graders every year. It was a great week for the Cohort A graduate instructors--the dynamic that accompanies teaching older students brought a heightened level of excitement as the week began on Monday morning.

My role was that of the school liaison, which means that I was in charge of logistical planning for group activities throughout the week. Acting as liaison is a great change of pace from field instruction, and it offers a host of new challenges, as well. The week began by opening Friendship Circle with introductions and then lunch, which included brief lessons in recycling and composting, two practices that are key components of all meals here at IslandWood. After a quick review of schedules, rules and other logistics, we introduced the students to the IslandWood experience with a rousing rendition of the Banana Slug song. I donned the banana slug costume, to the amusement of 101 laughing, excited sixth graders. The remainder of the afternoon was spent distributing rain gear to the students. As a life-long Mid-Westerner, I'm quickly learning the importance of good rain gear here in the Pacific Northwest.

Throughout the rest of the week, my liaison duties varied from filling water jugs near the harbor for student fill-ups to facilitating the evening program, Ecosystems Challenge, and leading morning Friendship Circle meetings. Each day I led songs and brief lessons for the entire group of students, a task that at first seemed a little daunting; but as the week progressed, I found myself eagerly awaiting the responsibility of leading the morning Friendship Circle songs and facilitating the debrief discussion during evening programs. By the end of the week, I had become surprisingly comfortable in front of large groups.

As it always does, the week ended with Wednesday night campfire. For the students, this is seemingly the long-awaited, much-anticipated apex of the entire week; for the moment it is announced early in the week, the buzz about skit-planning can be heard throughout the field groups and within the students' lodges. It was a great show, with plenty of amazing performances by students and grad instructors, alike. There was no shortage of smiles and laughter, and the evening ended with the routine slide show of photos taken during field instruction. The kids love this part, as it highlights them as the stars of the show and serves as a reminder of their incredible accomplishments during their time here at IslandWood.

The grad instructors ended the week with a pumpkin carving party graciously hosted by our very own Emily. It served as a relaxing and fun night with our fellow grads, and one in which creative juices flowed freely in the spirit of Halloween. There was great food, amazing music and an array of exquisitely-carved pumpkins. After a long and tiring but rewarding week, it was just the R&R we needed.

This was a great week, and we look forward to many more to come. Our time here is just beginning, and there's so much more yet to unfold. In the words of a wise soul, "my golly, there's something incredible going on here."

Stay tuned for more!

The start of a new year!

To start, I apologize for the length! Attempting to summarize the past few months was like trying to fit a round peg into a square hole but I hope this helps!

Welcome readers to the 2009-2010 graduate blog! There will be three of us contributing stories and hopefully, sharing insight into the Graduate and School Overnight programs here at Islandwood. Before diving in, I would like to share a little background. There are 29 grads this year and we are from 29 different walks of life. We have moved from Ohio, New York, Vermont, Portland, etc… to be a part of this unique, hands-on experience. For those of you potential graduates who may be wondering if this program is right for you, let me assure you that we all asked ourselves that same question! There are not many people who have both a science and education background and that diversity is welcomed with open arms. I, for example am an elementary teacher who has spent as much time as possible snowboarding, white water kayaking, hiking, camping, and climbing in Colorado but have never had formal science education.


Quite a few of us have experience in one or the other but for the past few months we have spent extensive time studying, exploring our beautiful campus and experiencing life in the areas where we feel we may be lacking. The staff at Islandwood has done an amazing job in helping me feel prepared and qualified for my first solo week in the field, (which just so happened to be last week). They have imparted their stories, songs, knowledge and wisdom so that we can pass down the same adoration of nature to our young students in a way that is articulate and lasting for them.

To start, following a month of INTENSIVE training with the entire grad class (be prepared for 12 hour days… seriously), we are broken into 2 cohorts. At that point you can say goodbye to your opposite cohort because you will see them very rarely! (From now on I will be referring to cohort A as “The Unicorns” and cohort B as “The Survivors”. You too will develop ridiculous nicknames!) After another month of training, studying and observing you are paired up to team-teach for your first week in the field. There were mixed feelings circulating through the crowded prep room during this week. Some were pure shouts of ecstasy to finally be interacting with the students and some were groans of hope for the week when they would finally have the students and the lessons all to themselves. All in all it was an amazing week with beautiful weather, food to definitely write home about and hilarious 4th and 5th graders!


Directly after team teaching week it is the Unicorn’s opportunity to take the reigns and lead a group of young and impressionable minds on their four-day adventure. Referring to a loose schedule of venues, it is up to the instructor to choose where and how to present Islandwood to your group. The possibilities are endless but a few of the choices include a trip to the harbor, a scavenger hunt through the garden or venturing into the teams course all with one goal in mind, helping these children fall in love nature so that one day, they might feel inclined to protect it! The Unicorns ended up receiving an amazing gift from the heavens with torrential downpour and high winds. Impressively, spirits remained high and their first week was one to be proud of!


Just this past week was team Survivor’s first official week in the field. Monday went well and only a few of us lead our groups off trail during the night hike! No worries, we recovered quickly and hopefully it seemed as though it was a purposeful trip into the bushes rather than an accidental one! Tuesday at the harbor was amazing! My students were enthralled with a fish near the rock dam for nearly the full half hour. Thankfully, the rain stayed away and after the harbor, Team Stream was able to climb to the top of the canopy tower. A fear of heights for one student almost inhibited his success but he pushed through and even made it to the top! A fellow instructor had the quote of the week when one student at Mac’s Pond exclaimed, “Look, that bug is walking on water”! (I think they were referring to a backswimmer.) Subsequently another student retorted with, “that’s impossible, only Jesus can do that”! Wednesday, my favorite day of all brought the rain but with it brought the campfire. Students sang and performed skits and our very own Mike hit it out of the park with “Pet the moose baby one, two, three…” The grads seemed sad to say goodbye to their students and are valiantly awaiting the arrival of the buses during their next teaching week!

Moral of the story… if you enjoy the outdoors, love children and want to make the earth a better place to live… buy Carharts and a rain jacket and become an instructor at IW!

Looking forward, Looking back

Well there's not much I can say about this year that hasn't already been said many times over during these last few weeks. But what I do know is that the journey is far from finished. I am already back on the East Coast and in the full swing of a summer job, but IslandWood's meaning is evolving for me still. As I was packing up my stuff to move back, I came across some papers containing my classmates' written memories of childhood connections with nature. I thought I'd share those memories with you all again (you may recall them from Sarah's child dev. class presentation way back in fall quarter--when the power went out), in the spirit of honoring our beginnings down this path:

At the beach, poking an anemone. It felt cool and squirted water. -Emily T., age 3

Rocky Mountain National Park- I learned that lichens and subalpine plants "grow by the inch, die by the foot" and that plants take 100 years to recover from footsteps. I told everyone who would listen not to step on the plants. -Leilani, age 4-5

I remember sleeping in cabin 2 at Christie Lake Camp with my parents and sister. We ate cupcakes on a rock for Amy's birthday and I can still remember the smells and feel of my mom carrying me down the path at night with the kerosene lantern. -Erin, age 2 1/2

When I was 13 I went on a trip to an environmental learning center with my grandma. We spent a week in the Shawnee National Forest. It was so beautiful there! We went on walks in the woods smelling and tasting plants, canoeing, cliff diving, etc. -Shannon, age 13

Playing "house" under a big conifer at school and using branches to sweep dirt and needles from under the tree. -Renee, age 6

My parents' home is in a rural area. I always enjoyed hiking in the woods behind my house and camping out, both activities gave me a great love of nature! -Amanda, age 4 & up

Picking raspberries at my grandmother's house (and then putting them on top of an angel food cake that we made). -Adena, age 6

With Girl Scouts, my mom and I planted beachgrass in Marshfield, Mass., on a freezing windy rainy day with a group of older kids I didn't really know. It was miserable, but so memorable for me, and made me feel proud. -Kristen, age 7

Creating an imaginary world with its own ecology- plants, animals, interactions- while playing outside. -Susan, age 6-11

Collecting things out of a storm drain. - Heidi, age 10 1/2

Frolicking in the fields, forests, and rivers around my home. -Jon, age 6-9

Seeing a raccoon while camping. -Kendyl, age 10

In my grandpa's backyard building forts out of sticks. -Mike?, age 6-8

Playing games in the dark. I was hiding in a tree and started listening to the sounds around me and asking the tree to help me hide. -Lizzie?, age 10

Camping with my family at Governor Dodge State Park in Wisconsin. -Pat, age 7

Climbing in a tree with my sister outside my house. -Molly, age 6

Exploring the woods and stream behind my barn. And building forts. I read Hatchet, it was awesome!! -Ian, age 8

Hiding in the row of hemlocks in the backyard and pretending it was the wilderness- on Long Island. -Christine, age 7-10

(I couldn't read the signatures of a couple of them, correct me if I attributed wrongly!)

So there we are (most of us). All of us in love the outdoors for some reason or another, and all of us sure that this love has made us better people. And then: all of us determined to find a way to give other children the same chance to fall in love with nature. There is so much that makes us different, but such amazing things that we have in common. I am so proud to have this one thing in common with such a beautiful and inspiring group of people.

For the looking forward part: I am excited! Excited not only for what I get to do next, but for what all my classmates will do next! It will most certainly not be a dull panoply of adventures that will launch forth from Bainbridge Island this spring in the form of the IslandWood Class of 2009. Back in my hometown of Boston, I suddenly have my dream job: NPS Park Ranger on the Boston Harbor Islands-- Spectacle Island to be exact. I get to get people excited about playing outdoors on a capped and reforested old Boston garbage dump now populated with (bear with me, I'm learning...) honey locusts, baby spruces, staghorn sumac, milkweed, deadly nightshade, bayberry bushes, red-winged blackbirds, barn swallows, killdeers, blue mussels, periwinkles, red rock crabs, raccoons, and hundreds of daytime human visitors. And I just got an email update from Sarah Crowley, who is teaching outdoor ed in Alaska for the summer. She writes, "Last night I went down to Horseshoe Lake, my sitspot here, and watched a female moose become fixated on a male trumpeter swan in the lake. It followed him into the water til it was too deep and galloped a bit back to safety. Meanwhile a red backed vole ran between my feet. On my way back to my house I heard our beautiful Swainsons Thrush! They've finally made it!"

I was grinning from ear to ear when I read that. And then I realized: there are 25 other stories that I can't wait to hear from my classmates, and will continue to love to hear throughout my life. This community that we created wasn't built for this one year; it was built for a lifetime, through all of its adventures.

Thank you, everyone. And good luck to the new grads!

Kristen