Spotlight on Commitment: Middle School Experiential Ed and Community Engagement Offer Natural Connections

by Kristen Haferbecker, All-School Community Engagement Coordinator

While they were on their experiential education spring trip to NatureBridge in the Olympic National Park last week, seventh graders spent time learning about the Elwha River, took part in a decades-old program of collecting scientific data, and then had the opportunity to release coho salmon fry into the Elwha River that had been raised at the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe’s “House of Salmon” Hatchery. They heard from Hatchery Manager Robert Blankenship about the role of the hatchery in restoring salmon populations and thus also supporting the larger ecosystem and the communities that live alongside it. This opportunity to learn deeply from experts, then to take action to care for the fish, the river ecosystem, and the surrounding people, is just one example of the crossover between Community Engagement and Experiential Education in the OES Middle School.

“So much of the mission and vision of the Community Engagement program is to support students as they use their power for good to come alongside others doing the hard and beautiful work of building and restoring relationships within their communities and ecosystems. Watching students engage in this work as part of their experiential education and discovering what this sort of meaningful engagement looks, sounds, and feels like is truly powerful. And it’s such a joy to watch kids name their salmon and then send them off with heartfelt wishes as they swim away into a new chapter of their lives,” said Mel Robinson, Middle School community engagement coordinator. 

Tom Handel, director of experiential education, said, “Stewardship is something that we are always trying to foster at OES, through so many of the various opportunities and experiences we guide students in. Experiential Education lets us take this stewardship attitude into wild spaces both on and off campus and put it into practice.” 

In the weeks leading up to their spring trip to the Deschutes River, eighth graders took Lower Schoolers out on canoes in the OES wetlands. The time they spent with the younger students was both training for outdoor problem-solving, safety, water awareness, and navigation, as well as a chance to lead the younger generation of OES students in building a relationship with the outdoor world.

Robinson shared, “As part of their community engagement focus on intergenerational justice, eighth graders have been working with younger students all year at Montclair Elementary, and this was a wonderful opportunity to continue that work here at OES and blend it with their experiential and outdoor education. The eighth graders were full of smiles and excitement when working with the younger students, and watching them put the skills they’ve learned this year into practice both on and off the water was wonderful!”

Meanwhile, sixth grade students started their year in action with a joint Community Engagement and Experiential Ed experience, practicing stewardship actions by clearing invasive plants and maintaining trails in the OES woods and SPARC wetlands. (Seventh graders also helped clear invasive plants earlier in the year.) Now, at the end of the year, they are working in the OES garden planting vegetables that will be harvested next fall to support Neighborhood House. Through both of these actions, their hands are directly part of systems that impact the community positively through a focus on eco-justice. The connection between what they’ve learned and what they are able to contribute becomes realized. This week, they are off to Camp Hancock Field Station for their Experiential Education trip, where lessons in stewardship and ecology will be embedded in the learning they do there. 

“We hope that by practicing stewardship actions as students, they have a drive to take their stewardship into the next chapter, not only for our natural environment but also for other stewardship opportunities in our urban environments, or in all the places they may encounter throughout their lives,” said Handel. 

In this Season of Commitment and beyond, middle schoolers have ample opportunities to put their learning into action through the connections between experiential education and community engagement. By giving students the opportunity to grow this stewardship mindset, to practice the skills directly, and then to take action in real-world contexts, they deepen their power for good both now and in the future.