Sarah Johnson of Wild Rose Education has been selected to participate in a 2020 PolarTREC expedition in April to Utqiagvik, Alaska and again during the summer months. She was selected from over 200 applicants through a rigorous application and interview process to join Arctic researchers from the U.S. Navy and University of Washington who work on the International Arctic Buoy Programme. An opportunity of a lifetime, to go to the Arctic with a science research team. There is even the possibility of going to the North Pole in the summer. 

Read the most current updates on the blog, Arctic Ruminations. 

Wild Rose Education is thrilled to announce a partnership with The Wilderness Society to pilot and evaluate the effectiveness of the brand new Public Lands in the United States curriculum for learners 16 years and older. The interactive discussion based learning experiences builds stronger understanding of federal land designations, history of these lands, and the context in which these places were protected for participants. The curriculum aims to build connections between people and America’s public lands as well as awareness that the lands and waters we love today were once and still are Indigenous lands. The course also explores the many uses and benefits of public lands, as well as the threats they face locally and nationally. Read more from TWS.

We will be creating evaluation tools, aligning the curriculum to national and Colorado social studies and literacy standards, and also the Guidelines for Excellence in Environmental Education. 

Contact us if you would like to schedule the curriculum with your community or student group. 

Our Public Lands: Designations, History, and Today 
Aspen Mountain Guide School (11th & 12th grade students)
December, 2019
Aspen High School, Aspen, CO

Our Public Lands: Designations, History, and Today 
Tuesdays, 6:00pm-8:30pm, February 4, 11, and 18, 2020
Colorado Mountain College, Carbondale, CO
$55 non-credit course, Register here

Public Lands for Secondary Educators: Designations, History, and Today
Tuesdays, 5:00pm-7:30pm, February 25, March 3, 10, 2020
Third Street Center, Carbondale, CO 
$40 early registration fee, $50 after Feb. 10th Register here.
Optional 1 graduate-level relicensure credit available for $50 from Colorado School of Mines

Public Lands for Secondary Educators: Designations, History, and Today
8:00am-6:00pm June 11, 12, 13, 2020
Western Colorado University, Gunnison CO
Registration opens in early February 2020
2 graduate credits course description
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Public Lands Exploration in the Gunnison Valley: Designations, History, and Today
8:00am-6:00pm July 28, 29, 30, 2020
camping at East Elk Creek group site, Curecanti National Recreation Area
Western Colorado University, Gunnison CO
Registration opens in early February 2020
2 graduate credits course description

Email us to be notified when course registrations open. 
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A great group of formal and non-formal educators participated in the award winning Project Learning Tree curriculum workshop taught by Colorado Forest Service Danielle Ardrey and recently retired Shawna Crocker. The workshop was sponsored by the Northwest Regional Council of the Colorado Environmental Education Plan. 

Wild Rose Education piloted an innovative approach to provide a Leave No Trace Trainer Course for the new Aspen Mountain Guide School students this fall. The 11th and 12th grade students spent the entire month of September during their regular class time learning and practicing the 7 Principles of LNT and the ethics of minimal impact use of public lands. They then worked in small groups to research and then teach mini-lessons on special uses such as mountain biking, camping bear country, hammock camping, winter travel, hunting, fishing, and rock climbing. All the participants are now trained by LNT and have the skills and knowledge to teach LNT Awareness Workshops. 
Aspen Public Radio covered the workshop with this recent news story.
Special thanks to Tim Borden, LNT Master Educator for co-instructing the course and to Aspen Valley Land Trust for the use of the Chapin Wright Marble Basecamp.

Thursday, October 24, 8:00am-4:30pm
Third Street Center, 520 S. Third Street, Carbondale, CO 81623
now $55 (only had 16 $20 registrations available)
registration includes curriculum guide book, lunch, and light snacks
Register here
Instructors: Shawna Crocker and Danielle Ardrey

All K-8th grade educators are invited to participate in this highly active, hands-on session to experience and model several PLT activities in Carbondale, Colorado. Enhance your teaching skills and become comfortable teaching outdoors – in urban, suburban, or rural environments. Receive multi-disciplinary, hands-on lessons aligned with state and national academic standards. Put the materials to use right away in your own classroom, playground, or nature center. The workshop will include planning time to integrate PLT into your curriculum or program. All PLT activities are created with the NGSS lens and include robust content, relevant cross cutting concepts, and science and engineering practices. 

Participants will receive a PLT K-8 curriculum guide. Door prizes will include a grade band appropriate NGSS correlated online e-unit and access to PLT Green Schools online training. All participants will receive a certificate of continuing ed hours. Optional 0.5 graduate-level relicensure credit available for $40 from Colorado School of Mines (to be confirmed).

The PLT workshop is co-sponsored by the Northwest Regional Council of the Colorado EE Plan and Wild Rose Education. The cost is subsidized by a grant from the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education (CAEE). ​

The Youth Water Leadership Program hosted the Community Action & Problem-Solving Process Teacher Workshop  facilitated by Earth Force and offered graduate credit from the Colorado School of Mines for over 15 educators at the Third Street Center in Carbondale, Colorado on August 5, 2019. Educators attended from Grand Junction, Cedaredge, Leadville, Aspen, Basalt, Carbondale, Parachute, and Glenwood Springs. 

Participants were introduced to Earth Force’s award-winning Community Action and Problem Solving Process. The Earth Force Process is a six-step approach that combines the best of action civics, environmental education, and STEM to provide a framework of action for teachers seeking to engage students in hands-on community environmental action projects. This professional development gave educators the opportunity to understand how incorporating youth voice, student-driven inquiry, democratic decision-making and place-based authentic problem-solving into their classrooms prepares students for life-long environmental stewardship, civic engagement, and collaborative action. Participants gained a better understanding of how to engage students in learning that makes a difference, for students and communities. All were encouraged to participate in the upcoming Healthy Rivers Youth Water Summit and to publish their students' work on the Youth River Voices blog. 

​All this made possible by these generous 2019 Youth Water Leadership Program sponsors. 

​Fifteen educators from across Colorado convened for a River Ecology and Water in the West courses during the 3nd annual Western Rivers Teacher Workshops during the 2019 Western Colorado University's Summer Teacher Institute. In addition to five days of instruction in the field and classroom, participants learned to use ESRI story maps and Google My Maps to share special watershed topics and create walking field trip maps from their school. 

• view Walking Field Trip Maps
• view Watershed Topic Story Maps

Plans are underway for the 2020 Western Rivers Teacher Workshops at Western Colorado University. If you would like to be added to the educator alert email list, let us know, and we'll keep you up to date on upcoming registration deadlines.

Wild Rose Education is honored to be invited to present the Reframe, Rethink, and Re-inspire Adult Learning workshop and a Community Engagement poster at the 2019 River Rally hosted by River Network in Cleveland, Ohio June 21-24. Both the workshop and poster will bring proven best practices from the field of environmental education and adult learning to the river protection professional community's commitment to sustaining strong leaders, organizations, and coalitions. 
River Rally 2019 takes place along the banks of the Cuyahoga River and marks the last time that river caught fire from unregulated pollution 50 years ago, a pivotal event that sparked the environmental movement that led to the establishment of the Clean Water Act.

During the 2019 spring semester, Wild Rose Education's intern Jessy Stevenson worked remotely from Missoula, Montana to collaborate on the development of a new deliberative forum guide addressing the challenges of increasing demands on our nation's rivers. 
Using proven tools from the National Environmental Issues Forums, Kettering Foundation and the National Issues Forums, Let's Talk Rivers framework was drafted, edited by national experts in the field, tested in Carbondale, Colorado, and then finalized. 
The internship included the opportunity for Jessy to learn how to name and frame an issue, conduct background research and draft a deliberative forum guide to use with groups. 
The intended use of this guide is for use by trained deliberation moderators with groups of public, university students, and high school students. The guide can be adapted to reflect specific local and regional river issues, opportunities, and trade-offs. The guide will be utilized by teachers and students involved with the Youth Water Leadership Program during 2019 and in years to come as well as during the Western Rivers Teacher Workshops. 
Wild Rose Education was thrilled to work with such a talented and committed university student. Jessy Stevenson graduated on May 4, 2019 from the University of Montana's College of Forestry and Conservation with a B.S. in Resource Conservation, a double major in Environmental Studies, and a minor in Wilderness Studies.
Read her reflection on this project at the Youth River Voices blog. 
Special thank you to the River Management Society for creating an opportunity to meet and connect with Jessy Stevenson during the annual Symposium. Also special thank you to Bora Simmons (North American Association for Environmental Education), Michele Archie (Harbinger Consulting Group), Kellie Gorman (Yampatika), Hillary Mason (University of Denver), Connor Bailey (Wilderness Society), Dan Kahl (University of Kentucky), and Carla Atkinson (University of Alabama) for their support and edits. 

All this made possible by these generous 2019 Youth Water Leadership Program sponsors.