Text Box: garden beds and a new addition to the SVOS family will be arriving in April. I will be on maternity leave from mid April until the middle of May. We are all very excited for our “new arrival” as well as the arrival of all of our spring students, teachers and counselors! As we continue to live and grow and make connections with the earth and each other, I recognize that this outdoor school experience would not be possible without the love and support of a lot of people. Recently a parent wrote to us, “I just want to say thank you and please extend this to all who were involved in making this a great memorable experience for my daughter.” So I am extending this to all of the students, parents, teachers, principals, high schools, cabin leader volunteers, community members, ENH staff, ENH board of directors and all of the people who donate time, money and materi Text Box: Sempervirens means “ever living”, “ever growing” and that is what we continue to do at our little outdoor school in the redwoods! Since last I wrote, we are now able to provide our students with organic cookies from Newman’s Own Organics. We received redwoods lumber from Big Creek Lumber which has been used to build five new raised beds in our organic garden and we have five new chickens that are producing lots of fresh eggs. Spring is a time for new life and growth. At SVOS this means green grass, flowers, new leaves on trees, new Text Box: spot harbor seals and gaze at the radioactive sky. Some among us have never seen a true sunset before tonight. This is one reason we love our tiny school on the coast: a sunset can interrupt just about anything. The food at our tables will wait. The dishes in our sinks might get harder to clean. The students may go to bed a few minutes later. But we’re on Pigeon Point Time, so we can make room for the moments that make our program, from a beach discovery at Año Nuevo to an octopus in the tidepools to a dance party in the kitchen. An Text Box: “SUNSET BREAK!” After glancing outside toward the glowing horizon, I make the announcement and march out the door of our dining hall. A stream of students follows me out of the Fog Signal Building to “the Point”, our name for the deck above the panorama of rocks, beach and ocean that borders our school. For a few minutes, we take over the Point, chatting excitedly in the evening breeze as we

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ENH Ink

www.exploringnewhorizons.org
Text Box: Thoughts from Scott Klein: Program Director at Loma Mar Text Box: Thoughts from Dan Irelan: Program Director at PPEEP Text Box: Thoughts from Beth Riscassi: Program Director at SVOS

Greetings from Loma Mar! Spring is upon us in the Pescadero Valley and life is unfolding in front of our eyes.  As we are finishing our “winter” school session, it is nice to reflect on the learning, creativity and positivity that has taken flight at our site.  We have served communities as far as Winters Middle School and as near as Milpitas, some of which have been coming to our site since the beginning of

our program over 25 years ago. 

The children have learned to recognize their connection to nature.  Regardless of what community they come from, we have all recognized the larger community of forests, ocean, rivers, plants and animals that we depend upon for our survival.  Through their investigation of the web of life, the fun activities and music that the naturalists prepare for them and the independence they feel living in a cabin, the children go through a life changing experience that they will never forget.  It is not uncommon to hear students exclaim after a week of Exploring New Horizons Outdoor School, “This was the best week of my Life!”

  - Scott “Burl” Klein

 

 

The 2004-05 Loma Mar Staff

The 2004-05 Pigeon Point Environmental Education Program Staff

The 2004-05 Sempervirens Staff and their animal friends