Field Education: Whitefish Bay High School

Last week, I was Morning and Evening Programming where I met with our program's students every morning and evening to do activities that reflected the field programming's days and topics.  It went pretty well, however, I would prefer not to do these programs because I felt that I was not getting to know my students really well, nor did I feel that I had enough dedication and time with my students.  So I would prefer to actually be in the field with them for 8+ hours a day instead of about an hour in the morning and 2 hours in the evening.

So this week, I was able to work in the field with Joe and lead about 9 high school students around the GYE all week!  I was a little nervous about going from teaching wee-younger human beings to young adults, but this group Joe and I had were beyond exceptional!

Welcoming The Wisconsinites to the Tetons.

Not only was I nervous about teaching high school students, but also incredibly nervous teaching high school students to cross-country ski!  Since I was an incredible beginner to this new activity, I wanted to make sure that not only were my students feeling comfortable about being on skis, but I wanted to make sure I was going at a pace that was comfortable for them as well.  Like I said these students Joe and I had were beyond exceptional.  Not only did they excel at learning to ski, but they were quite content at the pace we kept during the field program time.

Introduction to Communities

Monday was Introduction to Communities: Introducing them to all the different plant communities of the GYE as well as incorporating team building activities into the day was lots of fun.  The students definitely had a great time skiing around, learning about sagebrush, willows, conifers, and the aspens, while playing in the snow.

Teton Magic School
Props Miraculously Appear Out in the Field When We Need Them

Success!

On Tuesday, the program's topics of Fire & Ice, we traveled to the Bradley-Taggart Trailhead and hiked to Taggart Lake.  Our students really enjoyed it.  As we drew the terrain, geologic cross-section during our hike, the students were able to depict the landscape's story.  They discovered how the terrain was uplifted and sculpted throughout its early stages of life and how the fauna has gone through its' own transformation through fire.

Hiking the Bradley-Taggart Trail to Taggart Lake

Identifying Trees

Our students were so incredibly positive, energetic, funny, and full of entertainment.  They were all about photographing and capturing all moments of their Teton experience.  Of course, there were jumping shots and summit posing included!

My Chartreuse Squirrely Bison Ladies!

My Chartreuse Squirrely Bison Gentlemen!

Learning about the Tetons' formation and glaciers, our students were able to construct not mountain out of sand like at the beach, but out of snow!  We got the students to dig up and carve their own Teton Mountain Range at Taggart Lake.  Talked about how the glaciers formed, and asked them to identify parts of the glacial process on their Teton representation.

Sculpting the Tetons for Fire & Ice Day

Beautiful Day for a Hike

Wednesday, the students were able to explore Jackson Hole from a cultural point of view.  Experiencing an elk sleigh ride in the snow was a fun experience, however it was pretty chilly that day!

So Majestic.

Snow, Sleighs, and Elk Oh My!

A Bromantic Brawl

While on the tour, the students were able to ask their sleigh ride guide about the National Elk Refuge, its history, its purpose in the community and for the wildlife, ramifications, issues, and relationships that the refuge has within the community with different community stakeholders.  This opportunity to be on the refuge helped prepare them for a Elk Feeding Mediation evening program later that night.  After the sleigh ride, the students were able to visit the National Wildlife Art Museum.  This was a great way for students to reflect and synthesize how others see wildlife in a creative and artistic perspective.  The museum journal prompts we provided to the students as they toured through the museum at their own pace, allowed them to dig deeper into the meaning behind many of the works of art and the messages the artists portrayed within them.

Visiting the National Art Museum

Thursday was their Research Day.  These students come from a school that is incredibly focused on their academics and success into their college journeys.  There were two main goals that Joe and I wanted to get across to our students during this day: 1.) Allow them to take full ownership of their project including how their data is obtained by them (not given to them) as well as 2.) Give them as much time to explore and enjoy the snow experience on skis and snowshoes.  

Adventuring to Our Research Site

The students conducted a silent conversation in the classroom to reach a consensus about what their topic of their research project should be.  They came to a conclusion after an hour discussion about how they wanted to determine how much of impact they have on the snow from their recreational endeavors of snowshoeing and cross country skiing on our campus and trails.  It was concluded the reason behind this project was to not only see how much snow was compacted on the trail by them as outdoor recreation enthusiasts but also how much they can impact and affect the Subnivean level organisms and species that reside under the snow during the winter season.

Measuring Snow Density

During their project, snow density samples were taken in snowpits that cross-sectioned into individual snowshoe tracks and cross-country trails that had been created by all eleven of us to represent a full group using a path.  Their snow density samples were taken at the top, middle, and bottom of their cross-section snowpit.

Getting Up Close & Personal in the Snow

The students had a great time being in the snow and being able to collect their own data on this subject matter.  They had explained that while in class, they are usually given the problem and the data collected, and it is their job to interpret and analyze the data.  By them being given the chance to obtain the data themselves, they felt like they had more involvement, responsibility, and ownership over the question they were trying to determine.  Excellent!  Students should feel that their involvement is more meaningful when they are given full ownership of a project!  Goal completed!

Snow Science Research at Upper Meadow

After they had analyzed their data to see if snowshoeing or cross-country skiing had a bigger effect on the Subnivean ecosystem based on compaction through snow density, they discovered that the impacts in density levels were the same for both recreational snow activities.  Even though there was no significance between the two types of activities, the students learned what parts of the methods could be made better, how they would change their project, and overall, enjoyed their experience of participating in science research out in the field.

Human Knot in the Snow

The high school students from Whitefish Bay are beyond incredible.  These students exceed concepts of community and share their optimism and support not just for themselves, but for each other, and their faculty and instructors.  The students that Joe and I had in our team were so extraordinarily brilliant, thoughtful, and fun.  They brought so much energy and curiosity to the table and enjoyed and conversed with us to explain their needs and what they wanted out of their week with us.

Whitefish Bay High School at Taggart Lake

A Pretty Awesome Week With a Talented Group of Students!

TheChristyBel