Our Environment and Our Community course was hard at work this spring quarter at Idylwood Park on Lake Sammamish. In partnership with Forterra, a local non-profit, students work together for 6 weeks to rid the park of invasive species of plants that are suffocating the trees. It is important these trees keep living and thriving because of their positive impact on the salmon stream connected to the lake.
In this course, students learn a lot about the purpose of non-profits, plus social and personal responsibility. This activity helps students connect together their action and information learned in the course. It’s also a chance to feel a sense of personal responsibility and take action together with part of your community. Doing good deeds not only feels good but has so many benefits for other people, places, and living things.
Students also use this opportunity to flex the skills they are gaining in our program, such as critical thinking, social awareness, and self-determination. They make their own decisions about why or why not the work we do is important or useful. The students also gain independent life skills as they are required to get to the park on their own, take instructions from the project supervisor, and complete the tasks given. The students cooperate and collaborate together on a cumulative goal each week.
We take our work seriously but really try to have fun while doing it. Over the last 6 weeks students’ relationships have grown, and they’ve had some amazing conversations about how important it is now to take care of our earth, our salmon, and our trees (and there was lots of laughter, too!).
About Forterra: Forterra secures the places — urban, rural and wild — that are keystones of a sustainable future for all. Our work ranges from iconic wildlands, to working farms and forests, to places in our city for parks, affordable housing, and culture. Learn more at forterra.org.
Environment and Our Community is one of the many courses OLS Students take to obtain their associate degree from OLS. More information about our curriculum is available on our website. To learn more about our program register for an Information Session.
Last Updated January 16, 2020