Camp Sea Lab Joins WOLF School
WOLF School Honors Its 2020 Award Winner Antonella De La Tore
Dear Friends of WOLF School
What's Up Wolf School?
We have big announcements for school aged kids near Aptos and Livermore! This week the Web of Life (WOLF) Field School is busy preparing for our new Outdoor Learning In-Person Program starting at the end of August at both Monte Toyon Camp and Camp Arroyo. We are excited to invite small, socially distant, consistent groups of 12 or fewer students to experience our outdoor classroom.
DIY Family Camp a Hit!
New Day Camp Style Environmental Ed. Programs for School Aged Children
The Web of Life (WOLF) School is proud to announce our newly designed Environmental Education programs starting this Fall.
WOLF School is Adapting and Changing!
Just like our natural world, WOLF School is making some long term changes and adapting to its new circumstances. Here's a brief update for those who want to see how the school, the naturalist teachers, and our admin staff are faring. We miss you, and look forward to seeing you at a program or online as soon as it is safe and possible!
WOLF Office Moved
The WOLF School moved its administrative office in Aptos last week (May 31) as a result of the covid-19 shelter in place. Without schools and students to serve, we have gone into hibernation until we can get our kids and naturalists back to learning science in the woods, at the seashore, and in the mountains.
We are grateful for the opportunity to move some of our administration back to our Monte Toyon home site in Aptos, where our office was located from 1998-2012. We love Monte Toyon! Some admin staff will work from home offices until further notice.
Latest News
Most naturalist teachers and program directors were furloughed in March when schools closed, but when UCCR/WOLF received the 8 week Small Business Loan, many were able to return to work and have been doing a great job of developing curriculum, editing our media, creating virtual lessons, and helping get everything ready for when schools reopen and kids can return to outdoor science school. Outdoor science school reopening is our highest priority.
Summer Day Camps
Next week, WOLF School will pilot virtual (online) specialty summer camps, with the intent to keep bringing our mission of "Building respect, appreciation, and stewardship within the web of life" to kids even while sheltering in place. Our summer camp goal, based on current county health and CDC regulations, is to start day camp (in real life, not just virtual) at Monte Toyon in early July, although this may change. We may follow up with additional programs at Camp Arroyo, our site in Livermore, CA. Plans continue to evolve.
WOLF Science Camp Next Year
We are in contact with our attending school teachers who remain strongly committed to getting their students back to camp and learning science, leadership, and connecting to the web of life. The state of education and the world has everyone unsure how school will proceed, so we are waiting and planning the best ways to support our classroom teachers and their students so they can come to camp.
Current Projects
Aside from delivering summer day camp to kids, our priority now is to fundraise for program support and to address future student needs. We are also committed to updating our safety protocols, curriculum, and program expectations so that when students return to WOLF, they will get the best possible outdoor education experience. We will continue to work on this until our students come back.
Thank YOU!
If you have skills, time, or funds you would like to share, please get in contact with Heather, the WOLF School Director to talk about your interests.
Happy Pride Month!
Happy Pride Month, everybody! We're celebrating and kicking it off with an interview with naturalist Treetop. In addition to being a fungus-finding pro and ukelele-playing guru, Treetop is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion in nature, and he founded Branching Out Adventures to celebrate queerness in the outdoors.
Follow WOLF School on Instagram and Facebook for our #queerecology series this month and all year long, where we highlight plants and animals that prove that individuals and families come in many forms. Nature loves diversity!
SEQUOIA: How did you fall in love with the outdoors?
TREETOP: When I was a child, we had the privilege to go camping in Yosemite Valley every summer, where I got to explore the magic of the meadows, rivers, and forests. As I grew up, being in that space became a refuge from all the struggles that teenagers go through. From age 14 on, I knew what I wanted to do was to “protect the trees.”
SEQUOIA: How have your experiences in the outdoors shaped your queer identity, and vice versa?
TREETOP: When I was a teenager struggling to figure myself out, nature became my safe haven. Even when I felt like my family or friends didn’t understand me, I always had nature to escape to, to feel like my true self. Having that space was crucial to working out my internal issues so I could confidently come out to my friends and family.
And the more I study nature, the more I have learned that queerness happens all the time in nature. So when people say that queerness “isn’t natural,” that just is not accurate. From banana slugs that have both eggs and sperm, to acorn woodpeckers where multiple females will raise their chicks together, there are so many examples where diversity is the norm in nature.
I have seen students come out at age 10 with support of their friends which is truly inspiring, but I have also seen homophobic slurs at camp which shows that this issue is still present, so the more we make camp inclusive the better.
“The more I study nature, the more I have learned that queerness happens all the time in nature.”
SEQUOIA: How did the idea for Branching Out Adventures begin, and how are you turning it from an idea to reality?
TREETOP: Last September, I had the privilege to go to the LGBTQ Outdoor Summit. While I was there, I was overwhelmed by the community of LGBTQ+ folks who also loved the outdoors from around the country. I wanted to help bring similar community together on a more local level which led me to want to start leading queer hikes. My hope with Branching Out Adventures is to eventually lead all sorts of events for us to have relationships with nature through the lens of queerness and social justice.
SEQUOIA: We talk often at WOLF School about being a community for everyone, and lowering the barriers that many youth face to having experiences in nature. For the LGBTQ+ community, what are some of those barriers?
TREETOP: People of color (POC), LGBTQ+ folks, women, and most groups that are not white men have long been kept from the outdoors. Many of these groups have faced violence and prejudice in outdoor spaces throughout history, which obviously makes people feel unwelcome. At first there were legal barriers, but now there are different barriers such as money, gear, and transportation that systematically keep these groups out. But this is why I am proud to work for WOLF and Branching Out Adventures, which are opening up this conversation and work to make the outdoors more accessible for everyone.
SEQUOIA: How have you stayed connected to nature during this pandemic? What advice do you have for others, especially LGBTQ+ youth, to connect with nature?
TREETOP: I have been getting to know the bits of nature on my block such as lizards and flowers that I can find while going for a walk. I advise folks to pay extra attention to the parts of nature we usually ignore (trees and flowers along the street, birds on the wires, etc). You can witness a whole new world of birds, bugs, and more to escape into when the real world is tough right now.
Front Line Training for WOLF School
#myWOLFstory - Carrying Memories Wherever I Go
BY ALPINE, WOLF SCHOOL NATURALIST
As many of our stories do, mine starts with my parents. Growing up I was lucky enough to have parents who wanted to spark our creativity and let us explore the world. My mom was a crafter who always roped us into her creations, and my dad loved to explore the outdoors. This love of crafting and spending time outside has led me to want to hold onto my memories of all of my outdoor fun. My favorite way to do this is by making a bracelet that reminds me of the place or experience.
I have been making bracelets since I first learned how at Camp Sugar Pine in the Sierras with the Girls Scouts. Since that summer I’ve almost always an in-progress bracelet in my pocket. I’ve made countless bracelets for memories for myself, but I also love making bracelets for other people, as gifts for friends and fellow naturalists.
My summer at Sugar Pine helped lead me to becoming a naturalist and outdoor educator. After graduating from Humboldt State University with a degree in Environmental Education over three years ago, I ended up at Camp Arroyo - and I still love every second of it. There’s nothing like watching students explore and experience nature with the wonder, excitement, and curiosity in their eyes. I try my hardest to help my students make new connections, educational or emotional, with the outdoors. I know I was privileged to have access to the outdoors from a young age, so I want to provide these experiences for others to enjoy as well.
One of my favorite things at camp is watching a student grow and conquer a fear or connect with the world around them. I like to give them one of my bracelets to help them hold on to the memory. The most special moment for me is when one kid helps another through homesickness. I like to give each of them a bracelet, one for being a friend and the other for being brave and trying something new.
Whether it’s visiting a new place, finding something cool in your own home, or celebrating your best friend’s birthday, I encourage you to document that memory, large or small, in a creative way. Check out my tutorials below to try your hand at friendship bracelets! And if you make one, take a picture and tag WOLF School on Instagram or Facebook so we can see what you made!