Great Sand Dunes Ambassadors for Wilderness Program Presentation

Ambassadors for Wilderness
Great Sand Dunes
National Park’s high
school enrichment
summer program
All photos by NPS staff, used with
permission

“Ambassadors” started in
2008 with goals and actions
from GRSA’s Education
Strategy:
--Goal 2a: Provide comprehensive field
education programs…appropriate for pre-K
through 12 th grade…
--Goal 2c: Target the 14 local school districts…
--Action A5: Accommodate day-long or longer
on-site programs when possible…

And funding…
08 Funding sources
• Parks as Classrooms grant $17,000
• Youth Partnerships Program grant $5,500
• Western National Parks Association Interpretive Support Account
~$1500
• ONPS salary and benefits for GRSA’s Education Specialist
09 Funding sources
• National Park Foundation Park Stewards grant $7,000
• Boettcher Foundation donation $1,000
• Western National Parks Association Interpretive Support Account
~$500
• Centennial seasonal funding
• ONPS salary and benefits for GRSA’s Education Specialist

Park staff visited 13
San Luis Valley high
schools to recruit
participants
• Lunchroom meetings
• In class presentations
• Event booth

Participants:
• 14 each summer, selected by
application
• Grades 8-11
• Represent 13 different San Luis
Valley schools
• 2008: 6 girls / 8 boys
• 2009: 9 girls / 5 boys
• 39% Hispanic
•All SLV school districts receive
Title 1 assistance; about 28% of
SLV children live below poverty
level (Census Bureau)
•About 51% of SLV residents are
Hispanic or Latin American in origin
(Census Bureau)

4 Core
Instructors:
•Teacher-Ranger-
Teachers,
students, seasonal
staff, led by
GRSA’s Ed.
Specialist
• Excellent
interdivisional
support from
Protection and
Maintenance

New in 2009: Peer
mentors:
• 4 alums from 2008
• Demonstrated
leadership skills
• Attended staff instructor
training weekend
• Each designed a
lesson/skill to teach
• Informal
teaching/mentoring

The curriculum is designed to help
participants gain skills leading to
increased responsibility, through a
series of increasingly challenging
experiences
• All-Participant Campout in Group Site
• 2-day Mosca Pass Overnight
• 5-day Sand Creek Adventure
• Student-designed Ambassador Projects

All-Participant
Campout in the
park’s
campground

2-Day
Mosca Pass
Overnight

5-Day Sand
Creek
Adventure

Beginning at the beginning: breaking
the ice, developing leadership &
communication skills

Gaining work experience w/ service
projects in the front-country

Discovering Leave No Trace and
wilderness trip planning skills

Like disarming
certain taboos…

Learning how to camp,
cook, and be safe
outdoors…

…and incorporating GPS
technology, map reading skills,
bear safety in the field…

As well as the natural and cultural
history of the Great Sand Dunes area

Then, lots of field practice: Leave No
Trace camping…

Resource “Immersion”

Work experience:
Trails and campsite
maintenance

Independence and interdependence

And physical challenge: a hike to unnamed
peak overlooking the dunes

Their longest hikes was 5 days:
traversing the park’s watershed from
top…

…to bottom.

Do modern kids relate?
“I, the writer of this journal, assume no responsibility for headaches,
mood spikes, random outbursts of laughter, giggling, chortling, or
reminiscing of any kind caused by any of the jokes, puns, stories, or
phrases located within this book. You, the reader, have assumed
this risk in your search for something to read. In opening this journal
you agree to these terms…” -- Sal, 10 th grade

“The world lay at my feet. In a crescent shape sand dunes spread before
me like waves on the sea. A stream rings the sand’s edge. From the
dunes spreads a valley floor that reaches to the hazy mountains in the
west. The wind sings like a lullaby chasing the heat and worries away...”
– Christina, 9 th grade

“I felt like I was on top of the world! I can’t wait to go back!
And trust me, I will.” -- Maria, 9 th grade

“Traveling with my new group of friends has been an
experience. I have enjoyed their company and how they make
me feel at ease. I have never really had friends or at least
people who make me feel good about myself.”
--Jessie, 10 th grade

The Ambassador Project (to be
completed when kids go home)
• To reflect on and communicate the
student’s summer experience to peers
• Can take any form the student chooses
(artwork, written article, slide show, etc.)
In 2009:
– Boettcher Foundation presentation
– Helping younger students in Old Stories, New
Voices
– Backcountry cookbook

The first student-designed
Ambassador Project in 2008.
By Marlee, 10 th grade

What did they get? Some
immediate benefits
• $100 scholarship from Western National
Parks Association
• 75 hours of volunteer service credit
• 1 elective credit in Wilderness Education
from Byron Syring Delta Center (nearby
alternative high school)

And we hope, some long term
benefits
• An outdoor experience (and the skills) that
are outside the norm for most local high
school kids
• Self-confidence
• A sense of stewardship
• A intimate relationship with “their” National
Park
• And more. Read on…

“I feel rested and
peaceful spiritually.
Nature makes me
feel safe and
comfortable away
from every day
worries. I feel like I
am finding myself
out in the
wilderness.”
-- Jessie, 10 th grade

“When you reach a
place that has not
been developed, is
untouched by man,
you realize how
little you truly know
about yourself. You
realize your
potential, how far
you can go, how
stubborn you are,
how brave or how
cowardly.”
-- Danielle, 10 th grade

“To get away from life’s
constant worries about
the little things and to
just be truly relaxed. It
is one place where you
forget where you came
from and you can be
completely you without
putting on a mask to
impress someone.”
-- Ben, 11 th grade

“Outdoors and in, you can feel so alone… no one
matters, not even yourself. But in this group, if one
falls, we all fall, and if one perseveres, then so do the
rest. You matter, and so does everyone else.”
-- Marlee, 10 th grade

For additional information
• Carol_Sperling@nps.gov
719-378-6341
GRSA Chief of Interpretation and Visitor
Services
• Melanie_Rawlins@nps.gov
719-378-6344
GRSA Education Specialist

All participant photos used by permission. October 2008.