S.O.L.E. in the Schweitzer Sunshine

My sister Laurie's fifth graders hit the fine-weather jackpot for their outdoor education experience at Schweitzer yesterday.  

I don't know what else to say in regard to the photo above except:  that great big sun over Lake Pend Oreille, taken from the Schweitzer Road, truly reflects how great the school day spent outside their normal classroom turned out to be. 

It was a day with S.O.L.E. in the Schweitzer sunshine.  S.O.L.E. stands for Selkirk Outdoor Leadership & Education. 

The mission statement on the organization's website reads:  We provide transformational experiences that empower our participants to become active learners and responsible stewards of their community and its environment!

Explore > Achieve > Lead. It's what we do.

Among its many outdoor learning-based experiences aka experiential education, S.O.L.E. is working with school district fifth graders this year.  

Under guidance from founder Dennison Webb, the students learned a few basic principles for their day of learning on snowshoes just above the Schweitzer Mountain Resort community fire station. 

The day's basic rules included taking care of self, of others, of resources and community. 

Along with the learning fun in the sun came high expectations for behavior, respect and a work ethic.

In the exploration phase, students honed their observation skills by looking for examples of items collected in a plastic bag and passed around for them to inspect with their senses of sight, smell, taste and touch. 

The trip up the trail on what was for most their maiden snowshoeing experiences included several stops to inspect and analyze tracks in the snow, lichen, needles and bark on trees,etc.  

Then came the real work:  dig and prepare an rectangular area for testing snow composition.  Dennis showed them methods for efficient shoveling, probing and preparing the spot for some later lab work with snow kits. 

While sit spots were being prepared, students took time out to go to another spot, sit down and reflect about animals that might inhabit that area.

They learned how to analyze the snowpack through feel, close microscopic inspection of crystals and snow temperature of different layers. 

This year's snowpack is minimal compared to past years, and it's dry, hard and cold.  

The outdoor activity included a variety of skills, observations and analyses.  And, as a former teacher, I'd say it was an A-plus day for learning and doing so in an A-plus plus environment. 

Our students are truly fortunate to have a program like S.O.L.E. to complement their normal classroom learning. 

I very much enjoyed helping out, and I'm sure the students will remember the day and maybe even most of what they learned as they trudge onward through their educational journey. 

Speaking of trudging, they did okay for their first time on snowshoes. 

I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed being there to snap them.  

Thanks, Laurie.  Thanks, Dennison and Hank.  And, thanks, students, for a fun day. 

To learn more about S.O.L.E., you can visit www.soleexperiences.org.