SLE Spring and Summer Outdoor Education Program

SEELEY LAKE - I love my job! As the Outdoor Education Program Coordinator at Seeley Lake Elementary (SLE), I get to work with kids of all ages and develop programs for them that require reaching out to local folks and outside organizations to help provide engaging, hands-on, academically rich content. I'm still amazed and inspired by the generosity and willingness of people to drop everything and lend a hand for the sake of the kids. Seeley Lake Elementary's Outdoor Program has been fortunate again to partner with individuals and groups to offer quality outdoor education to our students.

This year, field instructors from Swan Valley Connections provided lessons and activities for SLE students in fourth through eighth grades, teaching them about snow science, animal tracking and wildlife.

Thanks to the Blackfoot Challenge and efforts of education coordinator Elaine Caton, SLE students in fourth through seventh grades will take advantage of the University of Montana Bird Ecology Lab's Bird Banding Station again this spring and summer. Mike Krzywicki, coordinator of the bird banding project, visited SLE to speak with students in the classroom about the project and they will visit the Banding Station along the Clearwater Canoe Trail on May 22.

The kindergarten class returned to the Rich Ranch last week to enrich their study of primitive forms of transportation. Rob and Cole Henrekin gave them a taste of how early Montana settlers traveled by taking them for a ride in their horse drawn wagon. Later they enjoyed a picnic on the lawn of the Rich Ranch lodge and sang a song with Jack Rich. We should all be so lucky! It was a perfect afternoon!

Maggie Burwick's first grade class conducted snow surveys and has been studying plants and trees on the SLE campus. They are developing field guides and getting excited to share their knowledge of the local lakes and ponds with their families.

The second grade class has been using the Science Action Club "Birds in My Backyard" resources from California Academy of Sciences to learn about our local birds. They took a trip to Lions Club Park and dissected owl pellets to discover what kinds of animals owls eat. Don't worry, the owl pellets had been sterilized!

Third graders experimented with the water content in snow and learned about snow's insulating properties in late winter at the Seeley Creek Ski Trails. In April, they explored the Harpers Lake area and learned about glacial kettle lakes and the glaciers that formed the landscape. In May, they hiked to Holland Falls to check out the wildflowers and the natural history of the area.

The fourth grade class continues to work with the visiting naturalist from Montana Natural History Center. They participated in the Swan Valley Connections field trips and will visit the Bird Banding Station at the Clearwater Canoe Trail later in May along with the fifth and sixth graders.

Junior high kids who did not participate in track this spring took part in community and service learning projects with Fish, Wildlife, and Parks State Lands Manager Ryan Sokoloski. They planted about 100 trees at Placid Lake State Park and raked the grounds at both Placid and Salmon Lakes to help get the parks ready for the summer season. Sokoloski spoke with the crew about conservation efforts and the mission of Montana's State Parks.

As part of the Junior High National Parks Project, eighth graders from SLE and Swan Valley Elementary will travel to Yellowstone National Park May 23 - 26. They will visit the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, participate in a Park Service wildlife monitoring citizen science program, learn about the Yellowstone Wolf Project with wolf biologist Rick McIntyre and explore the unique geology of the geysers and springs. This trip, along with the seventh grade Glacier National Park trip, is funded by the 21st Century program grant, a grant from the Museum of the Rockies, and by money raised by the students through various fundraisers.

Summer is just a few short weeks away and we are looking forward to offering fun, engaging outdoor activities for kids again this year. The 21st Century program will provide Outdoor Adventure Club three days a week beginning June 13 and running through Aug. 17. Programs will be led by Shelby Holmes and Locke Hassett.

This program will include hiking, kayaking and paddle boarding, orienteering, nature art, adventure filmmaking and photography, mountain biking and a variety of other activities. What could be more fun than that?

The program will be free for SLE and SVE students. Non-local kids are invited to participate for a small fee. Other summer programs offered through the 21st Century Community Learning Center will include "Books on the Beach", a book discussion group, Swan Valley Elementary Art Camp and a Wilderness Backpacking course. More information will be sent home with students and posted around town and in the Pathfinder.