Exciting Fall Updates at The Crest
As we’ve been transitioning into fall we’ve seen some exciting developments coming into play here at The Crest.
What Are We Up To?
Campground Construction
Construction is underway for adding ten new wall tents to the campground at Willow-Witt Ranch! The campground is also undergoing construction to be fully ADA accessible! We are grateful that we will be able to bring valuable environmental education to a wider group of students with these improvements.
In the photo above, preparations are being made for pouring a concrete ramp at the entrance of the cookhouse.
Thank you very much to the OSU Extension Outdoor School for the grant funding needed to make this project possible!
The Turtle Trot is underway!
Our 2nd annual Turtle Trot fundraiser 5k race is currently happening! This fundraiser supports our outdoor education programs, classes and field trips for students from surrounding school districts. T-shirts are available for purchase on the online sign up form as well as in the Willow-Witt Ranch farmstore.
Come up to Willow-Witt Ranch and enjoy exploring the Turtle Trot trail at your own pace before October 31st.
Outdoor School at The Crest this Spring!
The Crest is looking forward to providing Outdoor School this upcoming spring 2022! Our program provides hands on experience with growing food, caring for animals, restoring wetlands, assessing forest health and more — all on the beautiful land of Willow-Witt Ranch. You can find information about our Outdoor School program here.
If you know a class or teacher who is interested in attending, please feel free to contact us at info@thecrestatwillowwitt.org
Take Action, Learn More
Critical Orientations: Indigenous Studies and Outdoor Education
Dr. Spirit Brooks and Dr. Leilani Sabzalian of Oregon State University offer this free, self-guided online course that supports outdoor educators in engaging with culturally responsive incorporation of indigenous studies concepts into outdoor education curriculum and programming.
The main course objectives are to:
- Learn to critically analyze how Indigenous peoples and knowledge are included and represented in outdoor education and the consequences of bias, misrepresentation, and appropriation.
- Reflect on how Indigenous studies concepts complicate and enrich our practice as outdoor educators.
- Discover alternative curricular framings and orientations and support peer collaboration to develop ideas for different contexts using curricular self-evaluation tools.
This course is a valuable resource in our work at The Crest. The concepts in this course are broadly applicable, and you do not have to be an Outdoor School educator to take the course.
Learn more about the Critical Orientations course here.
Jessica Kouvo
United Communities AmeriCorps member, Jessica Kouvo, began serving as our Education and Volunteer Coordinator this month.
Jessica is a recent graduate of Gordon College and comes from Massachusetts.
She looks forward to getting to know The Crest community!
Snowberry
Common Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) have been producing fruit this month! Snowberry is a shrub in the Honeysuckle family that is native to North America and commonly found in the northern and western United States.
The white berries contain saponins, which are toxic to (yet poorly absorbed by) humans.
Find Snowberry’s plant fact sheet here!
